Happy Is Not Hard to Be (2005)

HAPPY IS NOT HARD TO BE follows the lives of a diverse group of family and friends in Los Angeles, whose paths intersect at a time of personal turmoil and uncertainty. Reflecting the discontented melting pot of Los Angeles itself, this modern family struggles to find harmony when new and old faces enter their lives. NIKKI is living in the shadow of the country's foremost expert on happiness-her mother, MAGGIE-and blames her lonely and miserable existence on a woman who finds happy escape at the end of a marijuana pipe. Her younger sister, CHRISTINE, remains blissfully ignorant to worries and problems, even when her ex-husband, BOAZ moves back into town with a beautiful new wife, RUTH, in tow. Boaz's reunion with his old friends and family in Los Angeles throws Ruth's life into turmoil as jealously fans feelings of isolation in her new surroundings, which is not the paradise she thought it would be. At the same time, Christine and Nikki's playwright brother, FLINT, contends with commitment issues that threaten to drive away his long-term girlfriend, LISA. Defining the love between them becomes even more difficult when Flint reconnects with his ex-lover and muse, LOLA. All of his anxieties in this complicated triangle are on full display in his latest theatrical creation, starring Lola's sexually permissive roommate, ALEX, and the young ingénue GUY. Alex's firm separation of sex and romance, both on and off the stage, is in complete contrast to Guy. He naively offers nothing but love and support to his older cynical girlfriend, CHLOE, no matter how cruel she is to him. Bringing together all of these characters' insecurities is Flint's avant-garde play to commemorate the "Year of the Family". Much to his loved ones' chagrin, Flint draws deeply upon the personal stories of those around him, as he pushes the envelope of performance to create his own unique, artistic vision of what binds them together, not seeing what the result of his words will be. Once all of the fears and weaknesses of their circle are exposed, it is up to each of them to figure out how to hold their lives and one another together.