Verdict: A genial, unassuming crowd pleaser with a few welcome quirks.

Details: Starring Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn and William H. Macy. Directed by Mark Illsley. Rated PG-13 for sexual situations and profanity. 1 hour, 37 minutes.

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Review: Forget your troubles, c'mon, get happy. "Happy, Texas," that is.

This sunny crowd pleaser captivated audiences at this year's Sundance Film Festival with its cheerful zaniness and flyweight gender-bender humor. Think "La Cage aux Folles" mixed with "Some Like It Hot" and a dash of the beauty pageant spoof "Smile."

So as not to mislead anyone, "Happy, Texas" isn't nearly as accomplished as any of those movies, but it heads in the same genial direction. Harry Sawyer (Jeremy Northam) and Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. (Steve Zahn) are petty crooks who, through a lucky break, become escaped convicts. On the lam, they steal an RV and find themselves mistaken for the owners: a gay couple who stage beauty pageants for little girls and have been hired to put on the Little Miss Fresh Squeezed Contest in nearby Happy, Texas.

Happy's residents are unhappy that their little girls have been routinely weeded out of the finals. So Harry and Wayne are welcomed as a source of professional expertise, even if they are ... well, you know. ...

As for our guys, they plan to lay low, play up to the locals (especially the sheriff, played with sly, dewy-eyed aplomb by William H. Macy) and rob the bank. But Harry finds himself drawn to the bank's owner (Ally Walker), while Wayne discovers a long-dormant talent for staging cheesy dance numbers for little girls in sunflower costumes. That wins him the admiration of the girls' teacher (Illeana Douglas). Meanwhile, Harry attracts his own altogether unexpected admirer.

The last-minute plot device weakens the picture, as if filmmaker Mark Illsley couldn't come up with a good ending and so, quite literally, he cuts to the chase. But by then the movie has built up so much good will that you can't help but go along.

Kudos to the cast for maintaining just the right touch of amiable silliness. Northam, who could probably act in Jane Austen adaptations for the rest of his life, proves he can do much more. He might end up claiming some of Hugh Grant's territory. As for Zahn, he continues to carve out his peculiar yet irresistible niche as the Michael J. Pollard of the 1990s. He has that stoned, one-beat-off thing combined with a kind of nervous belligerence that's hilarious in its total impotence. Best of all is the aforementioned Macy, who has a few secrets of his own.

"Happy, Texas" strikes a sweet-natured tone that may not be realistic but cozies up to you like some friendly puppy. Plus, it's just plain funny. When the pair finally figure out who they're supposed to be, Harry shrugs, "So we're gay. How hard can that be?"

"Maybe not for you, Rock Hudson," snarls Wayne.

It may not equal the John Wayne walking lesson in "La Cage," but it's darn close.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Cox News Service

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