New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

63 11th Hour, The
47 27 Dresses
29 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
39 Alvin and the Chipmunks
81 Bamako
84 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
47 Bella
68 Business of Being Born, The
69 Charlie Wilson's War
64 Cloverfield
30 Cover
68 Delirious
92 Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
43 Final Season, The
41 First Sunday
51 Golden Compass, The
49 Good Night, The
65 Great Debaters, The
63 Hannah Takes the Stairs
52 Hollywood Dreams
7 Hottie and the Nottie, The
60 I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
15 In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
81 Juno
70 Lars and the Real Girl
47 Lions for Lambs
41 Mad Money
71 Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
xx Moondance Alexander
53 Music Within
77 Nanking
44 Nina's Heavenly Delights
24 One Missed Call
74 Orphanage, The
30 Over Her Dead Body
39 P.S. I Love You
37 P2
46 Reservation Road
55 Resurrecting the Champ
57 Romulus, My Father
85 Savages, The
78 Starting Out in the Evening
83 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
57 Teeth
92 There Will Be Blood
38 Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
32 Untraceable
63 Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
68 War Dance
71 Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
43 Youth Without Youth

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Happy, Texas
Miramax Films


7.6

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for language, sexual content and some violence

Starring Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy, Ally Walker, and Illeana Douglas

Two runaway convicts disguise themselves as gay pageant directors in a little Texas town.

GENRE(S):	Comedy
WRITTEN BY:	Mark Illsley Ed Stone Phil Reeves
DIRECTED BY:	Mark Illsley
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 11, 2000 Video: April 11, 2000 Theatrical: October 1, 1999
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Anybody with a soft spot for fakers, who either identifies with them or just admires their chutzpah, is going to get a kick out of Happy, Texas.

Film.com Gemma Files

Sweet and hilarious, a classic crowd-pleaser which elevates rather than eviscerates the homespun eccentrics who make up its cast of characters.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A hoot, a hilarious comedy that's smart and caring, yet sexy and ingenious enough that it just might stir up some of that elusive "Full Monty"-style box-office appeal.

Time Richard Corliss

An easy charm, a cleverly unforced sense of humor and a benignity toward all its genially oddball characters. If moviegoers skip this one, they'll be missing a real treat.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Keeps the laughs coming, and a dynamo named Steve Zahn is the cheif reason why. It's a one-joke movie, but the cast knows how to sell it.

Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams

So full of winning performances and so disarmingly uncynical in its affection for its characters, it manages to leave you with a Texas-size grin on your face anyway.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

A fresh, well-written comedy that doesn't lag, casts its actors against type and has a real love for its characters.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Zahn's dazed and confused, droopy-mustached dude steals every scene he's in...a movie that will make you smile and put a lump in your throat.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

I can't imagine anyone not feeling entertained by Happy, Texas.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The performances are first-rate, with the always inventive Macy a standout as the hopeful, tormented Chappy, and Zahn a scream as the lovably imbecilic Wayne.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This is one of those comedies that doesn't pound us on the head with the obvious, but simply lets us share vast amusement.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

It's a funny and occasionally poignant movie.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

So soft-hearted it wouldn't hurt a fly.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Along with a lot of 10-gallon laughs, Happy, Texas rustles up plenty of goodwill for its larcenous, sexually ambiguous leading men.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

A very cynical exploitation of the current Hollywood vogue for things queer. Still, the film is a must-see.

Variety Emanuel Levy

Steve Zahn shines throughout Mark Illsley's feature debut, Happy, Texas, elevating this eccentric small-town comedy a notch or two above its level of writing.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

A comedy of '90s sexual inclusiveness as effervescent as a cold sody pop -- and about as intoxicating.

TNT RoughCut Bill McLochlin

Zahn, however, is definitely the star of the film, with his quirky portrayal of Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. getting all of the laughs, and none of the credit.

San Francisco Examiner Walter Addiego

It's soft-edged fun that loses direction (or, given the scattershot plot, directions).

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Don't expect a lot, and you'll probably enjoy Happy, Texas, as I did -- mostly. At the very least, Steve Zahn will make you laugh.

Film.com Peter Brunette

What makes the film ultimately successful, though, is the outstanding comic talents that inhabit it, especially Zahn and Macy.

TV Guide Ken Fox

A wonderful premise that delivers solid laughs and has a heart as big as the state in which this farce unfolds.

Austin Chronicle Sarah Hepola

A humble comic fable, puttering along with a sunny grin, a goofy sentimentality, and not much else.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

All the right elements for a rollicking farce, except one: The movie isn't funny.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

Thank heaven for William H. Macy, whose portrayal of Happy's sheriff strikes the only honest note in a film that earns its laughs the cheap way.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

If we had a story we could believe, we'd be in stitches.

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

Illsley's fine cast, with a riotous contribution from William H. Macy as the sheriff who falls for Harry, plays out the comedy without condescension.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Its charm and humor will be overshadowed for some by the exploitation of gay stereotypes--which is ironic, since their arch usage ultimately allows the movie to be progressive, if only slightly.

USA Today Mike Clark

Neither the actors nor their characters engender much affection.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Sputters to a dead halt right out of the gate. One labored scenario follows another.

Dallas Observer Scott Kelton James

Screwball mistaken-identity crapfest...it's just utterly plain, a confection so bland you don't even care that it doesn't really make any sense at the end.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Pat C. gave it a 3:
"Texas is so bad that God had to make a special kind of person who would like living there" (paraphrased). There you have it - that's the extent of what I got out of this show.

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page

Happy, Texas Miramax Films

Happy, Texas
Miramax Films