Happy Tears is an American independent

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 comedy-drama

Comedy-drama

Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...

 film by Mitchell Lichtenstein

Mitchell Lichtenstein

Mitchell Wilson Lichtenstein is an openly gay American actor, writer, producer and director.Lichtenstein studied acting at Bennington College in Vermont....

. It stars Parker Posey

Parker Posey

Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....

, Demi Moore

Demi Moore

Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...

, Rip Torn

Rip Torn

Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...

, Sebastian Roché

Sebastian Roché

- Early life :Roché was born in Paris, France, on August 4, 1964; he is of Scottish and French ancestry. He is also fluent in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Italian. On General Hospital, he spoke in Russian, Spanish and French, and on the pilot episode of Odyssey 5, he spoke in French...

 and Ellen Barkin

Ellen Barkin

Ellen Barkin is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Early life:She was born Ellen Rona Barkin in Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the daughter of Evelyn , a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman...

. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival

The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

 on 11 February 2009 and was released theatrically in the United States on 19 February 2010.

Plot synopsis

Jayne (Posey) and Laura (Moore) play sisters helping their crude but endearing father Joe (Torn) deal with age-related health and mental problems. Wealthy by marriage, Jayne is otherwise psychologically fragile. Conversely, Laura has her hands full with domestic responsibilities but is considerably more grounded. Upon returning to their childhood home to help their father, they face difficult, frequently comic situations. The home, their deceased mother's effects, and their father's eccentricities evoke memories and sentiments, especially for Jayne. The sisters bicker over the seriousness of their father's condition. They also contend with a romantic dalliance between Joe and his equally eccentric, wigged-out "nurse" Shelly (Barkin). The struggle to balance familial duties with their own strained lives suggests a more meaningful family connection they may not have had as children.

Production

The shooting schedule was completed in 2008 and included locations in and around Philadelphia including Prospect Park

Prospect Park, Pennsylvania

Prospect Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,594 at the 2000 census. It originated as a bedroom community of Philadelphia...

, Center City

Center City, Philadelphia

Center City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...

 and Cabrini College

Cabrini College

Cabrini College is a coeducational Roman Catholic residential college in the Philadelphia metropolitan area of Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, founded by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1957. It was one of the first colleges in the United States to make community service a...

.