| Happy, Texas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mark Illsley |
| Written by | Ed Stone Mark Illsley Phil Reeves |
| Produced by | Mark Illsley Rick Montgomery Ed Stone |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Bruce Douglas Johnson |
| Edited by | Norman Buckley |
| Music by | Peter Harris |
Production company | Marked Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $1.75 million[1] |
| Box office | $1.9 million[2] |
Happy, Texas is a 1999 Americancomedy film directed byMark Illsley, and starringSteve Zahn,Jeremy Northam andWilliam H. Macy. The film premiered at the1999 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired byMiramax. It had a limited release in North American theaters on October 1, 1999.
Three prisoners escape from achain gang, and two of them, Wayne and Harry, steal an RV. They discover that the RV actually belongs to twogay men who travel around Texas as consultants forbeauty pageants. They are apprehended by Chappy Dent, the sheriff ofHappy, Texas, who mistakes the escapees for the pageant organizers. Posing as the organizers, Wayne and Harry proceed to help out with the pageant while hiding from the law and waiting for an opportunity to rob the local bank.
The duo's scheme is complicated by the fact that Chappy himself is gay and is attracted to the prisoner Harry. Straight Harry, on the other hand, becomes attracted to Josephine, the president of the bank. Meanwhile, "gay" David, also actually straight, gets involved with the local pageant coordinator, Doreen.
By the day of the big pageant, the third escaped convict has surfaced, leading Wayne and Harry to organize a break-in during the show. Harry calls in more police, and in the process, all three are apprehended. In the last scene, the pageant group that Wayne helped train came to the prison to show them the closing number, in the costumes he made.
With the exception of a few scenes, the film was shot entirely on location inPiru, California.[3] One scene was filmed at Oil Can Harry's inStudio City, Los Angeles.[4]
The film debuted at the 1999Sundance Film Festival. Its premiere sparked a bidding war between various film companies includingFox Searchlight,Independent Pictures, which had an output deal withNew Line Cinema at the time, and a joint bid byParamount Classics andSummit Entertainment.[5][6]Miramax won the bid, but reports conflicted on exactly how much the company paid to acquire the film.[5][7] While Miramax maintained they only paid $2.5 million, other reports said the number was closer to $10 million.[5][7][8]
Miramax gave the film alimited release in the United States on October 1, 1999.[9] The film grossed $72,056 in its opening weekend and went on to gross nearly $2 million in the United States and Canada.[2]
The film received an 81% rating onRotten Tomatoes, based on 58 critics' reviews. The site's critics consensus states, "Happy, Texas is a simple, funny romantic comedy that benefits from a very talented cast and a good soundtrack."[10] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 62 based on 31 critics' reviews.[11]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave it three out of four.[12] He wrote the film's strong point is its "actors sell the situation so amusingly--and warmly", Zahn is especially funny, and Northam is "a revelation...here is the slick, urbane British gentleman of 'Emma,' 'The Winslow Boy' and 'An Ideal Husband,' playing a Texas convict and not missing a beat".[12] Ebert concluded, "Macy's performance as the quietly, earnestly in love sheriff is the most touching in the movie, another role in which he gets laughs by finding the truth beneath the humor."[12]
Macy and Zahn were nominated forBest Supporing Actor andBest Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical at the4th Golden Satellite Awards for their work in the film, with the former winning but the latter losing toPhilip Seymour Hoffman forFlawless.[13]
| Happy, Texas: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | September 14, 1999 |
| Genre | Country Tejano Exotica |
| Length | 49:08 |
| Label | Arista |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [14] |
The soundtrack album forHappy, Texas features a mix of mostlycountry music by such artists asEmmylou Harris,Alison Krauss,Lee Roy Parnell,Pam Tillis,Brad Paisley andBR5-49. There are also bits ofTejano (Flaco Jimenez) andexotica (Yma Sumac).