Review of Happy (2012) by Tom J — 11 Apr 2016

An insubstantial documentary that demonstrates some fairly light-weight insights about the human condition. The movie probes the idea of why a person living in an Asian slum, a middle aged Brazilian beach bum, a Scandinavian single mother or an extended family of Louisiana swamp dwellers are seemingly more happy and contented with their lot than people trapped in the rat race in big cities like New York.

If you are hoping for major life-style revelations and hard science you're going to be disappointed as this film really only states the blindingly obvious that a supportive family, a few good friends, stability and generally being nice to each other are the key to happiness.

As a documentary, it's all rather shallow and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I wanted to know more about how the politicians in Bhutan were actively managing and monitoring the public happiness index, giving it as much if not greater prominence than economic growth.

For me, therein lies a really fascinating documentary, one which this film really wasn't able to rise to.