Happy, Texas (1999)

Happy, Texas: Directed by Mark Illsley. With Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy, Ally Walker. 3 prisoners escape. 2 end up in Happy, Texas, where they’re mistaken for a gay couple expected there to help with the small girls beauty pageant. As the 2 are paid $1000, they decide to stay until the heat is gone.

“The movie seems strangely unfocused, with the apparent central concept of their masquerade as gay quickly downplayed and Zahnu0026#39;s assimilation of the pageant-master role confined to a few montages – when he suddenly becomes a dedicated, inspirational achiever, itu0026#39;s a bit jarring. Instead, the film meanders through pretty conventional strands about Northam finding himself by serving as Walkeru0026#39;s u0026quot;gayu0026quot; confidante (admittedly a winning plot strand), planning a bank heist, and other snippets of nothing in particular. Thereu0026#39;s a slapdash quality to the casting, withtNortham ineffective as the solid centre and Zahn getting by on a weird collection of mannerisms rather than a coherent character – Macy is affecting in his role, but the film is a bit fuzzy about the details of his personal self-discovery. Even the closing pageant is barely exploited for comic value. The movie might be deliberately going against the grain of standard plotting, but it doesnu0026#39;t really seem so – itu0026#39;s a not particularly interesting mix of obvious set-ups and plot gambits and discursive if not arbitrary execution.”