Happily Ever After (2016) Reviews

• flat filmmaking

  SnoopyStyle2017-11-27

  Struggling Toronto documentary filmmaker Heather (Janet Montgomery) goes home on the request of her father's hospital doctor. The doctor asks her to move home to take care of her father and she refuses. She can't get out of the small town fast enough but he won't take no for an answer. Former friend Sarah Ann (Sara Paxton) runs into her and pushes her to videoing her upcoming wedding. It's the bland suburbs hiding many secrets. I like Montgomery and Paxton but they aren't really supported. The production looks cheap. The filmmaking is generally lackluster. The two leads do try to inject some charisma. Most of the jokes fall flat. This is a small town story about secrets. It's a little indie which somehow managed to snag a couple of Hollywood actors to play the leads. The film may be better off spending some money on music or get a more imaginative filmmaker. The suburbs are filmed in a flat lifeless way like a flat TV movie. It's all flat without the charms of a small indie. The story could work if the directing is better. As for the climax, it feels out of place. It's too long, visually static such as much of the movie, and tonally unhinged from the other parts. It's a bridge too far.