Most recent Czech films have been ensemble pieces that blend comedy and a bit of tragedy. Bohdan Sláma's Something Like Happiness leaves out the comedy — so much so that packages of tissues with the film's logo were available at the press screening for anybody who was overcome with emotion.

Sláma's previous effort, The Wild Bees, used some of the same cast, including Pavel Liška, in a more comic mode. Liška has mostly done broad comedy. He is quite effective this time in a more naturalistic performance as a kind-hearted young man beset by multiple problems.

Aňa Geislerová, known for Želary, also plays against type. This time she plays a deeply mentally troubled woman. While some of her previous characters, like the one in The Ride, have been self-destructive, they have at least been sympathetic. This time, her red hair is dyed black. The few times she tries to pull herself together, the effect is more horrific than glamorous. Even Bolek Polívka, who can usually be relied on for a few smiles, plays an unemployed man who has lost his job and his self-respect, only to find refuge in too much drink. His scene falling down drunk by the elevator is the closest the film comes to comic relief.

The story in Something Like Happiness is bleakness itself. Most of the film was shot near Most, an economically depressed area. Daša (Geislerová) is raising two children while having multiple affairs. Her behavior grows more erratic until she has a screaming fit on Christmas, followed by an incident where she goes into a store's display-model whirlpool bath with her clothes on.

This lands her in a mental hospital. Her friends in the same housing project don't turn her children over to social services. The kids' father is long gone, and Daša's main boyfriend has no interest in them.

Toník (Liška) and Monika (Tatiana Vilhelmová) try to cope with the kids. They are not a couple, though. Monika's boyfriend has gone off to America to try to establish himself and then bring Monika over. Toník's main passion is fixing up the old family house, even though he can't afford electricity and every repair reveals even more things that need fixing.

But Toník and Monika just light up around the kids, and the kids enjoy being properly cared for, probably for the first time. Too bad there is no way the situation can last. Even though they are caring, they have no legitimate claim to the kids.