Happy, Texas (1999)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. (Steve Zahn) is a car thief and Harry Sawyer (Jeremy Northam) is a con man. They and murderer Bob Allen Maslow escape from the prison van when it crashes. The duo are found by Sheriff Chappy Dent (William H. Macy) from Happy, Texas. They are mistaken for gay couple Steven and David who are suppose to put on a pageant for little girls. Joe McClintock (Ally Walker) runs the small local bank. She pays the boys %500 up front and $500 when the pageant is done. Harry convinces Wayne to lay low and put on a show. He also plans to rob the bank safe. Doreen Schaefer (Illeana Douglas) needs the guys to revive the town's pageant chances.Jeremy Northam is not a particularly great comedy partner. He's not able to generate any laughs and the material isn't that funny. I'm glad that they didn't go for the easy flamboyant gay jokes but it needs to find other ways to be funny. Steve Zahn has his moments but he's flailing a lot. This boils down to the writing by Ed Stone, Mark Illsley and Phil Reeves. None of them are known as writers and they don't deliver the jokes.

Happy, Texas is a laugh out loud comedy starring Wayne Northam, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy, Ally Walker and Ileana Douglas.Northam is Harry and Zahn is Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr., both convicts who escape from a crashed van with another convict. The third convict takes off. Harry and Wayne steal a trailer, and then are mistaken for the owners, two gay guys, Steve and David, who are to put together a beauty pageant in Happy, Texas. Deciding to combine their pageant work with robbing the local bank and skipping town, David (Zahn) and Steve (Northam) are surprised to find out that the it's a kids' beauty pageant. Wayne gets stuck getting the girls ready, while Harry befriends the bank owner Jo (Walker) so he can get the keys to the bank and any information he needs.Since the guys aren't gay, Steve finds himself falling for Jo and David gets involved with Doreen (Douglas), the kids' teacher.There are some unforeseen consequences, one of which is that the sheriff Chappy (Macy) is gay and declares his love for Steve. Then the third convict shows up.Very, very funny premise and a very funny script by Ed Stone, Mark Illsey, and Phil Reeves, with Illsey giving brisk direction, Happy Texas is funny, sweet, and crazy. Unlike many comedies today, it doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator with crudeness.Very enjoyable, with Macy's crying jag the funniest thing in the movie, or maybe Steve Zahn preparing choreography for the girls is the best. Hard to decide. See it for yourself.

I saw this film recently, for the second time, with a friend who hadn't seen it before.It has a solid cast, with roles all well-played, and all who are just a bit shy of being on Hollywood's "A" list - but not because of any lacking talent or appeal.There are a lot of previous comments here, so I would just add that it is a thoroughly enjoyable film, all the characters likable (even the couple of "bad" guys, in their own way).You are completely aware of the basic ending of the story from the outset, and can pretty well guess most of the exact details as it moves along. However, this isn't meant to be suspenseful, and, as a quiet, modestly-budgeted presentation, it outdoes most of the "A-list," super-budget extravaganzas by a mile.

Good premise, forced Zahn comedy, forced love stories, GREAT MACY as always. When I watched the 2nd time (yesteday), I found it even harder to get through. The Director/Writer special feature on the DVD was enlightening and will encourage any wannabee filmmaker.The hard part to believe is that in 1999 this film made it to Sundance and was picked up by Miramax. This just needed a better script and less forced plot to be an interesting character film. Seems like everyone wants to make a quirky FARGO but ends up with broad, contrived, unfunny small-town characters.I am currently in pre-production on my first feature film called "PIGS" and I base my own comedy on 2 things: real situations, fresh characters who are complex to the point that their inadequacies prompt conflict with other characters. Plus I've got a killer Amish sub-plot that is a twisted WITNESS tale. (Am I talking about my own film too much? It's only because I have to fill these 10 stupid lines and I've said everything about Happy.)