Happy Times

"Mild-mannered cartoonist Max isn’t pleased with the way his life is currently going. He works as an illustrator at an ad agency simply for the money, and he just can’t break things off with the overbearing girlfriend from hell, Monica. When he tries, in spite of his best efforts, he can’t even get the words out; unfortunately, she assumes that he is proposing. Hearing the news, his slacker barber pals Niko and Rigo mock him for being a milquetoast. Luckily, one of their customers hands him a card for the Abaddon Agency, which specializes in getting rid of that person who is standing in the way of your life. The enigmatic Agency occupies a large building, manned by a few curt employees who look straight out of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” or something by Franz Kafka. Desperate Max signs a contract as thick as a book, without bothering to read the fine print. The Agency operates in mysterious ways, keeping the naive Max entirely in the dark. Although he has an overactive imagination, he doesn’t think to question why Monica’s femme-fatale sister, Andrea, would seduce him, or why the smarmy Agency psychiatrist would ask such pointed questions about what Monica likes. While it’s common to see films about looking for and finding love, it’s rare to find a comedy about the dissolution of a relationship. What makes “Happy Times” stand out, and lends it considerable charm, is that it also acknowledges how contradictory human beings and their relationships can be." - Alissa Simon, Variety