A film starring Marisa Tomei and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Even though Marisa Tomei’s overly sweet, “cutesy” acting style is a little grating for me, the film turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.
Despite the somewhat overused theme of schizophrenia (a subject that has always fascinated me in cinema), Happy Accidents turned out to be a good, fresh, and fairly intense love story — one that immediately earned a spot on the same shelf as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
However, unlike Eternal Sunshine, Happy Accidents doesn’t carry that overwhelming emotional weight — that heart-wrenching, soul-stirring intensity that makes your chest ache from the sheer depth of the love story.
The entire film feels incredibly kind.
D’Onofrio’s character is wonderfully odd — though not nearly as devastatingly sexy here as he was in Naked Tango, he’s still very appealing.
I especially loved the fractured narrative structure: shifting between past and present, past and present again.
It harmonizes beautifully with the mental “rewinds” of the main character as he flips events backward in his mind.
Overall, the movie leaves a very harmonious impression.
There’s nothing you feel like changing — except perhaps swapping out the actress playing the lead female role.
But honestly, even with that, it works.
It’s a very good film.