''Happy Together'' is a 1989 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Mel Damski Melvin Damski (born July 21, 1946 in New York, New York) is an American director and producer of film and television. Life and career Mel Damski (born in New York, New York) is an American film director and film producer. Damski has Northern Eu ...

and starring

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fil ...

and

Helen Slater Helen Rachel Slater (born December 15, 1963) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She played the title character in the 1984 film ''Supergirl'', and returned to the 2015 TV series of the same title, this time as Supergirl's adoptive mot ...

Plot

Christopher is a very serious-minded young man from Chicago. Enrolling into college in LA as a freshman he finds his roommate is someone named Alex, who turns out to be a woman from Park Avenue, NYC. When Christopher arrives, he finds the room covered with his roommate's things. After both he and Alex are in the room, Chris sits down to confront him, he's surprised Alex is a girl. She moved in a week early and takes up most of the room. They have been placed together by a computer error. He finds the pairing intolerable and tries his best to find another place to live. The dorms are full and he is resigned, at least for the time being, to make the best of his current situation. Alex, a seemingly extroverted party girl, shows little interest in academics and breezes into the room, disrupting, demanding full attention at any moment. After 'dinner together', which turns out to nibbling here and there in a supermarket, he gets enthusiastic about her. Buying her a bunch of helium balloons, he arrives to their building only to find her zip off on Slash's motorcycle. She treats Chris as if he is simply there for when she needs him. Complete opposites, Chris thinks out and plans everything, whereas she constantly does things spontaneously. While scene painting, she instigates a paint fight, and later on, they play the game, 'Love Songs', name the musical and finish the lyrics. They move up to the roof, doing a musical number. They are both told that their work is lacking something, for Chris in his writing and Alex in her acting. Alex tells Chris he needs a muse, and his writing professor reiterates this idea, write because he needs to or feels compelled to, not because he is obligated to. As fate intervenes, the two slowly begin to realize that they do like one another after all. It manifests itself as a sexual relationship wherein each finds a need filled by the other. Both of them improve once they get involved, as they invest more of themselves, it is visible in their craft. Alex gets a nasty message written about her on the shower wall after she volunteers at a kissing booth. They fight, making up with dinner, however Chris storms out when men continually buy her drinks. Alex's ex, Slash, returns right before midterms, and he breaks Chris' arm. Having to get his arm plastered, he isn't able to study for midterms, so she suggests he put the answers on his cast. Caught, he can either redo the semester or leave. Packing up, Chris is about to go, but confronts Alex, convincing her to take a chance on him. She agrees. In the closing credits, they both stayed and finished their degrees. They later moved to NYC to pursue their careers.

Cast

as Christopher Wooden *

as Alexandra Page *

Dan Schneider Daniel James Schneider (born January 14, 1966) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and actor. After appearing in mostly supporting roles in a number of 1980s and 1990s films and TV shows, Schneider devoted himself to behind-the-s ...

as Stan * Kevin Hardesty as 'Slash' *

Marius Weyers Marius Weyers (born 3 February 1945, in Johannesburg) is a South African actor. He lives with his wife Yvette, an artist in her own right, in Rooi-Els in the Western Cape. He received international attention playing Andrew Steyn, a bumbling s ...

as Denny Dollenbacher *

Barbara Babcock Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937) is an American actress who played Grace Gardner on ''Hill Street Blues'', for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981, She played Dorothy Jennings on ''Dr. Quinn, ...

as Ruth Carpenter * Gloria Hayes as Luisa Dellacova *

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

as Brian * Aaron Harnick as Wally * Ron Sterling as Trevor * Eric Lumbard as Gary * Michael D. Clarke as Steve * Wendy Lee Marconi as Dory * Yvette Rambo as Jill * Shawne Rowe as Geri

References

External links

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''Happy Together''
at The Numbers {{Mel Damski 1989 films 1989 independent films 1989 romantic comedy films American independent films American romantic comedy films Films directed by Mel Damski Films scored by Robert Folk Films scored by Robert J. Walsh Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in Los Angeles 1980s English-language films 1980s American films