Happy, Texas (1999)

(On DVD, May 2003) Easygoing, unpretentious comedy in which two convicts on the run are forced to act as gay pageant specialists in order to remain undetected in a small town in Texas. (!) Steve Zahn is excellent (but then again, he usually is) whereas Jeremy Northam is mile away from his proper English personae and members of the Ileana Douglas Appreciation Society get their money’s worth. It’s not a side-splitting film, but it’s pleasant enough save for a few squirms in the latter half as a criminal element drives the third act around. Not particularly memorable, but likable. Be sure to rent the DVD, as the making-of story of the film’s humble origins might very well be more interesting than the film itself.