Happy Here and Now (2002)

45% of critics liked it
(20 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(654 ratings)

Drawn into a menacing underground world of the New Orleans elite while searching for her missing sister, Muriel (Shalom Harlow), Amelia (Liane Balaban) is aided in her investigation by ex-CIA agent Bill (Clarence Williams III) in this effort from Nadja director Michael Almereyda. Soon discovering… More Drawn into a menacing underground world of the New Orleans elite while searching for her missing sister, Muriel (Shalom Harlow), Amelia (Liane Balaban) is aided in her investigation by ex-CIA agent Bill (Clarence Williams III) in this effort from Nadja director Michael Almereyda. Soon discovering mysterious webcam footage on Muriel's laptop computer that will seemingly aid them in finding Amelia's sister, the duo is confronted with shifting identities in a scene where no one is quite who they appear to be on the surface. An obscure and disturbing study in the nature of avatars in the age of technological isolation, Almereyda's haunting drama soon leads Amelia and Bill into a complex web buried deep in the underground of a mysterious and sometimes menacing city. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By: Michael Almereyda
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Jun 8, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Dec 27, 2005
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

David Hunter, Hollywood Reporter
The future is quieter, emotionally subdued and grayly mysterious, at least in the small hop forward imagined by filmmaker Michael Almereyda.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
This is a droll, laid-back film noir steeped in Crescent City atmosphere and music that culminates in the colliding worlds of genuine and virtual reality.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Michael Almereyda's muddled Happy Here and Now should have stayed on the shelf -- where it's been gathering dust for several years.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Michael Almereyda's futuristic mystery isn't a complete misfire, but it does leave you with the same baffled blankness that suffuses his isolated, techno-dependent characters.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
A bit too mannered to engage.
Jan Stuart, Newsday
Mourning and gloom weigh upon most of the characters in Michael Almereyda's convoluted and numbingly pretentious Happy Here and Now
Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
Murky and humorless.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
The film is resolutely committed to its affectations of deepness and meaningfulness, but all it imparts is a sense of tediousness.
Brent Simon, Now Playing Magazine
Casts an undeniable and lingering spell for those who enjoy their cinema spiked with adventure and philosophy.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Even if you're not quite down with Almereyda's digital-age existentialism, he has impeccable taste in music.
Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com
The dialogue is much like a bull session in a college dorm room, right before the munchies set in.
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
A rich kaleidoscope of sights and sounds that sing out in their vitality.
Tim Merrill, Film Threat
Almereyda is tripped up by this grab at cosmic profundity, and lands in a sticky puddle of pretension.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
To make an inexact analogy, 'Happy Here and Now' is to New Orleans as 'Mystery Train' was to Memphis...
Jon Alon Walz, Boxoffice Magazine
While technically brilliant and gorgeous to watch, Happy Here and Now feels as unfocused and uneven as it is ambitious and intellectually frustrating.
Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
The film transcends what occasionally seems to be oddness for its own sake.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Happy Here and Now" starts out with Amelia(Liane Balaban) venturing to New Orleans to look for her missing sister, Muriel.(At the same time, a firefighter is agonizing over the loss of a fellow firefighter.) Bill(Clarence Williams III), a former CIA… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Happy Here and Now" starts out with Amelia(Liane Balaban) venturing to New Orleans to look for her missing sister, Muriel.(At the same time, a firefighter is agonizing over the loss of a fellow firefighter.) Bill(Clarence Williams III), a former CIA Agent, now cab driver, is helping with the search and uncovers a connection to an Eddie Mars who Muriel was communicating via the internet.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic](And what all of this has to do with Nikola Tesla, Blaise Pascal and the price of 7-Up in New Orleans, I have no idea.)[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Happy Here and Now" begins well and ends up being totally incoherent. Basically the movie wants to be a commentary about not being able to commuicate with our fellow human beings, thus resorting to the company of computers instead. But if you want to chat with people on the internet all day long, be my guest.[/font]