Film Review – Happy Anniversary

Writer/director Jared Stern doesn’t have a fresh idea with “Happy Anniversary,” becoming the latest in a long line of helmers trying to communicate the ups and down of a relationship with a brew of comedy and neuroses. There’s limited originality to the feature, but it does have personality, mining the perils of a longtime union with a fine sense of humor and steady level of concern. “Happy Anniversary” isn’t a Bergman film, but it does take bruising of the heart seriously, even while it’s making light of the situation, navigating hidden truths and stunted communication to find some fragment of authenticity in the midst of formula. Stern isn’t bringing out the big guns for his directorial debut, but he does achieve a lived-in sense of coupledom, which adds a little weight to the general lightness of the material.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com