Happy, Texas Movie Review

Since few people saw Drop Dead Gorgeous, Happy, Texas will likely not be remembered as the second beauty pageant comedy of 1999.

The lighthearted story of two convicted felons who break out of jail and find themselves impersonating a pair of gay pageant producers in the sleepy town of Happy, Texas, this film has a lot riding on what amounts to a one-joke concept.

And boy, how they work that joke! Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. (Zahn) and Harry Sawyer (Northam) are complete opposites. They both find love interests in the town, but everyone thinks they’re gay! Even the sheriff (Macy) thinks so, if you catch my drift. And they don’t know anything about beauty pageants! Oh, the comic possibilities!

And for the most part, those possibilities are wasted. Whereas a film like Waiting for Guffman took a more savvy approach to basically the same movie, Happy wastes its energy on one increasingly lame gay joke after another. Add to that the fact that Walker and Douglas (born: Massachusetts) just don’t fit as Texas belles, and Happy is a bit of a mess. Sure, it’s cute and funny at times (thank the hilarious Zahn for that), but overall, Happy is flat.