''The Trouble with Bliss'' (formerly titled ''East Fifth Bliss'') is an American indie comedy film directed by Michael Knowles and starring Michael C. Hall, Chris Messina, Brie Larson,

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

, and

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award. Liu has sta ...

. It was released on March 23, 2012, in the United States.

Synopsis

Morris Bliss is a 35-year-old man with poor job prospects who lives with his widowed father, and falls into a romantic relationship with the 18-year-old daughter of a former high-school classmate.

Production

Director Michael Knowles knew Douglas Light in passing as they both frequent the same cigar lounge, and approached him about adapting his novel into a screenplay. They met to work on the screenplay several times a week and smoke cigars.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 33% based on reviews from 18 critics, with an average rating of 4.45/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". ''

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Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

wrote that the film "evokes forerunners as dissimilar as '' Moonstruck'' and '' After Hours'' in its eccentric mix of the everyday and the surreal" but "more often than not confuses eccentricity with originality" and ends up as a "sweet-natured, low-testosterone trifle." ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood fil ...

wrote that Hall has a "natural charisma" while Fonda displays "gravitas and sly humor", and Liu is "appealing and funny," but "despite their efforts, ''The Trouble With Bliss'', as evidenced by its punning title, feels far too pleased with itself." NPR reviewer Ian Buckwalter found the characters in the book "full of color and whimsy on the page" but, in the film, "without the time or space to flesh them out more, their quirks seem labored and forced."

Box office

The film's opening-weekend gross was $4,619. The film has made $13,093 as of April 26, 2012.

Accolades

''The Trouble with Bliss'' won

Best Narrative Feature Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

at the 2011 San Diego Film Festival. It was the opening-night film at the 2011 Naples International Film Festival and at the 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best

Editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

at the 2011

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each f ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trouble With Bliss, The 2012 films 2012 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American independent films 2012 independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films