After Sara Sugarman and Darren Ripley you might have thought that SGRIN and The Welsh Arts Council would have had enough of camp, self effacing comedians - but no, despite its chocolate box wrapping, Phillipa Cousins debut effort fails to raise many laughs and succeeds in compounding negative welsh stereotypes. I suppose the success of Kevin Allen's cult hit Twin Town started this movement but I wish it would end, quickly.
On a more positive note, there are many promising elements in Happy Now. The locations have been well chosen and atmospherically photographed in cinemascope by Richard Greatrex. The sound design and music are also noticeably good.
In fact the production values as a whole make Happy Now feel like Hollywood. The strongest scenes include the cult sacrifice of a cat and the engagement of a local black magician to 'disappear' the films young protagonist . If only Happy Now had dropped its knowing self parody and tackled more seriously the darker ingredients of its story it might well have achieved its ambition be 'a Welsh Twin Peaks'.
On a more positive note, there are many promising elements in Happy Now. The locations have been well chosen and atmospherically photographed in cinemascope by Richard Greatrex. The sound design and music are also noticeably good.
In fact the production values as a whole make Happy Now feel like Hollywood. The strongest scenes include the cult sacrifice of a cat and the engagement of a local black magician to 'disappear' the films young protagonist . If only Happy Now had dropped its knowing self parody and tackled more seriously the darker ingredients of its story it might well have achieved its ambition be 'a Welsh Twin Peaks'.