Life During Wartime

While the title of Todd Solondz's 1998 film Happiness was ironic—the domestic “bliss” it portrayed was anything but—this sort-of sequel has a more dead-on title. Picking up 10 years later, the characters (mostly played by different actors) are simply struggling to survive. Their stories—in typical Solondz fashion—are spun in a hallucinatory netherworld equipoised between comedy and tragedy, a perilous balancing act that the writer-director doesn't quite pull off, although the film features an exceptional cast. Life During Wartime revolves around the three Jordan sisters—literally haunted Joy (Shirley Henderson), intense Helen (Ally Sheedy), and troubled Trish (Allison Janney), the ex-wife of pedophile psychiatrist Bill (Ciarán Hinds), who's just been released from prison. Bill's effort to visit his two sons, who've been told he's dead, is only one of the blasts from the past that threaten to destroy the fragile equilibrium of the present. But Solondz doesn't want so much to bring viewers to tears over the characters' sadness as to evoke laughter—or at least amused grimaces—at the cluelessness of their choices. And so he opts for an arch, mordantly analytical style to emphasize the grotesquerie, which unfortunately comes across as condescending, robbing the film of much of its humanity. Fans of Solondz will appreciate the peculiar tone, but mainstream viewers will find it stiflingly affected. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “Ask Todd” audio Q&A session of viewers' questions with director Todd Solondz (45 min.), “Actors Reflections” with costars Shirley Henderson, Ciarán Hinds, Allison Janney, Michael Lerner, Paul Reubens, Ally Sheedy and Michael Kenneth Williams (30 min.), interviews with cinematographer Ed Lachman (28 min.), a booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an uneven film.] (F. Swietek)