Life During Wartime

Drew's Thoughts:
Todd Solondz's latest film is an odd one for a number or reasons, not least of which is that it's a sequel to 1998's Happiness that he entirely re-casted with different actors. Apparently, Solondz wanted to see what different actors would bring to the characters; it's a risky move but it works and the film feels coherent with Happiness while also offering a fresh, more-or-less stand alone film for those unfamiliar with Solondz's previous work.
Solondz is known for challenging his audience with uncomfortable topics and this film is no different. Life During Wartime is a much funnier film than Happiness (it won best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival last year) and doesn't shred your nerves as much. Those who haven't seen Happiness will have to be patient and observant as Solondz does fill in all necessary back story but never in an overly expository, this-is-everything-that-happened way. The film is entirely character-driven and I think the cast, including Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire), Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club) and Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood, Margot at the Wedding), did a uniformly good job with Paul Reubens and Allison Janney giving my favorite two performances.
There are a lot themes going on in the film: forgiveness, memory, masculinity, normalcy, guilt and responsibility (among many others) with Solondz using some of the tactics Colleen discusses in her Mrs. Dalloway thesis such as shared language and heteroglossia. Solondz seems to be particularly interested in our current time and place as both the "war" on "terror" and the internet now consistently permeate the characters' lives. I won't get into them here but there are many dilemmas here, Donna should be all over this!
Though overall I prefer this film to Happiness, there was nothing in it that matched Dylan Baker's incredible performance as Bill in the first film. Leaving me to ponder is it better to make a mixed film with an unforgettable, stand-out performance or a better film without one? I guess Solondz just side-stepped the question by making both.