The Happy Ending - 1969 - 7/10
Surprisingly biting woman’s film follows stifled wife (Jean Simmons) of successful attorney (John Forsythe).
Opportunities are opening for young females that were unavailable to her generation.
Work is not an option. Shopping is, as is bitching at the salon or spa. And numbing house parties.
Sixteen years into marriage, she drinks, pops pills, loses herself.
Multiple timelines interweave flashbacks, present, future. Deliberately confusing to mirror the character.
Great cast, especially in Nassau, includes Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges, Bobby Darin.
Song “What Are You Doing With The Rest Of Your Life?" is evocative.
Opening sequence of Simmons & Forsythe as 20 somethings was completely false.
Simmons also looks older than Jones, though they were supposedly classmates.
Despite this being a woman’s story, I know numerous souls like her.
Most are retired or permanently unemployed. They have lost their bearings.
Boredom or disappointment tempt them into affairs, or narcotics.
