Happythankyoumoreplease
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''Happythankyoumoreplease'' is a 2010
comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...
written and directed by
Josh Radnor Joshua Thomas Radnor (born July 29, 1974) is an American actor, filmmaker, author, and musician. He is best known for portraying Ted Mosby on the Emmy Award–winning CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014). He made his writing and di ...
in his directorial debut. The film features Radnor,
Malin Åkerman Malin Maria Åkerman (born 12 May 1978), often anglicised to Malin Akerman, is a Swedish actress. She first appeared in smaller parts in both Canadian and American productions, including '' The Utopian Society'' (2003) and '' Harold & Kumar Go ...
,
Kate Mara Kate Rooney Mara ( ; born February 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for her work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama '' House of Cards'' (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenber ...
,
Zoe Kazan Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress and writer. She has acted in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), '' Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and '' It's Complicated'' (2009). She starred in '' Happythankyoumoreplease'' ...
, Michael Algieri,
Pablo Schreiber Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on ''The Wire'' (2003, 2008), William Lewis on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2013–2014), Mad Swe ...
, and
Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is most known for his comedic leading roles in the Fox series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth, and as Gary Walsh on the HBO series '' Veep''. For the ...
, in the story of a group of young
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
ers, struggling to balance love, friendship, and their encroaching adulthoods. ''Happythankyoumoreplease'' premiered at the
26th Sundance Film Festival The 26th annual Sundance Film Festival was held from January 21, 2010, until January 31, 2010, in Park City, Utah. Awards *Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - '' Restrepo'' *Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - ''Winter's Bone'' *World Cinema Jury Prize: Doc ...
in 2010, where it was nominated for the
Grand Jury Prize A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent date and depe ...
and won the Audience Award. On March 4, 2011, it was released in theaters throughout Los Angeles and New York.


Plot

In New York City, Sam Wexler is a writer on the verge of turning 30 and is unsuccessfully trying to get his first novel published. On the subway, he meets foster care child Rasheen and decides to take the boy in for a few days. Meanwhile, Sam's best friend Annie, a woman struggling with hair loss due to the autoimmune disorder
alopecia Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarring ...
, tries to find a reason to be loved. Sam's cousin Mary Catherine considers leaving New York for California after her boyfriend Charlie tells her about a promising job offer in Los Angeles. When Mary finds out she is pregnant, her decision to stay or leave becomes complicated. Sam also meets Mississippi, an aspiring singer who is trying to make it in the city and works at a
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
. Sam's attempt to return young Rasheen to the social services fails when the boy is determined not to re-enter the foster care program. Determined to help, Sam tries to adopt Rasheen, but botches the application process in a fashion that ends in his brief arrest. Rasheen is finally placed with a new foster family, but Sam keeps tabs on his new situation, including providing the boy with drawing materials when he learns of his artistic abilities. Sam also works on bringing Mississippi into his life, with several setbacks, but by the film’s end, their relationship seems to be on solid ground.


Cast


Production

Radnor wrote the film while working on the first and second seasons of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
sitcom ''
How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
''. Radnor's script had appeared on the 2007
Black List Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
, a list of the most "liked" unproduced film scripts. Radnor had actors read for roles, wrote revisions, and sought financing for two years. Radnor received financing in April 2009 and began shooting in July 2009 in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, after six weeks of pre-production.
Myriad Pictures Myriad Pictures is an independent entertainment company in Santa Monica, California founded in 1999 and specializing in production, financing and worldwide distribution of feature films and television programming. History President and CEO Ki ...
bought the international distribution rights for the film. The publisher
Hannover House Hannover House is an American entertainment media distributor, specializing in the manufacture and release of pre-recorded movies and programs onto DVD and Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray video devices, and the publication of literary and non-fiction boo ...
bought the North American distribution rights, but the rights were later acquired by
Anchor Bay Films The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...
.


Release

''Happythankyoumoreplease'' was selected to screen at the
26th Sundance Film Festival The 26th annual Sundance Film Festival was held from January 21, 2010, until January 31, 2010, in Park City, Utah. Awards *Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - '' Restrepo'' *Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - ''Winter's Bone'' *World Cinema Jury Prize: Doc ...
, where it premiered on January 22, 2010. At the festival, the film won the Audience Award in the Dramatic category. The film was also screened as part of the
Gen Art Gen Art is an arts and entertainment organization that showcases emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists. It has produced over 100 events annually, which included fashion shows, film premieres and screenings, live mus ...
Film Festival in New York City on April 7, 2010. The film went into limited theatrical release on March 4, 2011, opening in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. The film grossed $216,110 in the United States. One month after its US theatrical release, ''Happythankyoumoreplease'' opened in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
where it did comparatively better, grossing $551,472. It was released by
Anchor Bay Entertainment The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...
on DVD and Blu-ray disc on June 21, 2011.


Reception

The film received mixed reviews. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
, it has an approval rating of 43% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10.
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born December 19, 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with J Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previou ...
of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' wrote though the film is "frequently funny and occasionally brilliant", the subplot with Rasheen is underdeveloped and "treats Rashaan 'sic''like a puppy, a token of Sam’s worthiness as a person." Morris lamented that Radnor "raises the possibility of a better, more complicated film about guilt and ambition and self-doubt", but stops short of exploring these themes. John Anderson of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' praised the production values and the performance of Åkerman, but wrote "the characters are uniformly annoying, their stories insubstantial and the tone one of smug contentment." Writing for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', Sam Adams critiqued the film’s plot contrivances and commented, "Treating their problems like they’re the most important crises in the world is what people in their 20s do, but that doesn’t mean we have to go along for the ride." Mark Jenkins of
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
was more positive, writing it "is among the better oodyAllen knockoffs of recent years, even if a few of its riffs seem hazardously off-key."
Mick LaSalle Mick LaSalle (born May 7, 1959) is an American film critic and the author of two books on pre-Code Hollywood. Up to March 2008, he had written more than 1,550 reviews for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' and he has been podcasting them since Sep ...
of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' praised the film and wrote, "There's a point in life where being young starts to get old, but being adult seems like too much of a risk, and ''Happythankyoumoreplease'' presents people at that juncture - right before they take the leap. It's an observant and heartfelt film, with turns of dialogue that show that writer-director Josh Radnor really can write."


Accolades


References


External links

* * {{Sundance Audience Award Dramatic 2010 films 2010 directorial debut films 2010 independent films 2010 romantic comedy-drama films 2010s American films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2010s English-language films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films English-language romantic comedy-drama films Films about writers Films directed by Josh Radnor Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Sundance Film Festival award–winning films English-language independent films