Nathan Rabin's Happy Cast

Merry Christmas, you filthy animals! To help us usher in a decidedly bizarre yuletide this year, we’re celebrating a fascinating double feature: a bizarre, shambolic Cassavetes family affair and one of the great entries in the Dipshit Film Canon, respectively. What’s more, we’ve got a very special guest to guide us through: Actor and Blank Check podcaster extraordinaire Griffin Newman! First is She’s So Lovely, a lost John Cassavetes script turned into a schmaltzy, all-too-conventional romantic drama courtesy of son Nick “The Notebook” Cassavetes. Starring Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn as a self-destructive barfly couple torn apart by alcoholism, sexual assault, and madness, which throws in a ten-year time skip and a reformed, remarried Wright a mentally-recovering Penn has to get back. Sure, it’s got Daddy Cass’ knack for complicated characters and verbose dialogue, but not even Travolta as Wright’s post-cleanup husband in the film’s second half can clean up the mess. But to soothe the pain, we get to bask