Everybody Happy

People seem to believe stand-up comics are the happy-go-lucky clowns they appear to be on stage. But that is very rarely the case. In Everybody Happy, Peter Van den Begin masterfully plays Ralph, a stand-up comic in the middle of a mid-life crisis, balancing his on-stage career with his inner struggles for inspiration. When Ralph begins to flame out, he is followed by the voice in his head - a non-stop talking judgment train, pestering Ralph with negativity and insecurities. Over-the-hill and questioning his lot in life, Ralph is on the road surrounded by a younger generation of comics with poor material and worse personalities. Thankfully, there's Laura, another older comic stuck in the same rut as Ralph. Like any good comedy, Everybody Happy is the right mix of wit, introspection, and commentary, giving us a glimpse of a world in which who we are on the outside doesn't match who we are on the inside; a world where we can be one person on stage, and yet another when we're alone in our rooms. We're all followed by our negative selves, and when we finally shut that part of us out we can truly be our real selves. Everybody Happy is a quirky reminder that even the tears of a clown dry eventually. (Cleveland International Film Festival)