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Don’t let the title trick you. Gothamist learned that this critically-acclaimed indie is more funny “sad” than funny “ha ha.”
While most films fail to capture the feel of a generation, Andrew Bujalski’s low-budget debut (featuring Brooklyn's Bishop Allen),is to be commended for its raw, sharp portrayal of confused, aimless, 20-somethings struggling through quasi-adulthood (twixters?). While shot on an inexpensive camera, with poor sound equipment, and lacking a thorough soundtrack, Funny Ha Ha draws in the audience, transforming them into a fly on the wall in the main character's scattered life. Unlike other “generation” movies, which push contrived scenarios and unlikely one-liners, Bujalski’s angst-ridden characters - performed by an impressive non-professional cast -seem so real you’d think this refreshing film a documentary or the lines improvised.
In the first scene, we find 23-year-old Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) stumbling into a tattoo parlor, requesting either a Celtic design or “maybe a cow?” The tattoo artist refuses her request, insisting she refrain from drinking & inking because “you always get the wrong thing, it’s there for the rest of your life.” The following morning, Marnie informs her friends she’s lost her job and “just wandering the earth,” a hint to her unresolved direction. Though a seemingly lazy & uninterested drifter, Marnie - a soft spoken, un-ambitious but smart temp who uncynically claims she doesn’t want anything from life - also drafts “to-do” lists, successfully stops drinking, and is determined to learn chess.
The rest of the film revolves around her unrequited love for Alex, (the adorable Christian Rudder of Bishop Allen) a complicated Man-Boy who flip-flops interest in her, a friendship with a nerdy colleague, and hanging out with her slacker-esque friends. While unable to communicate her frustration without such trusty sidekicks as “ya know,” “like,” “I don’t know” and anxious mannerisms, Marnie’s subtle, effective performance - down to her hunched shoulders and rambling, incomplete sentences - clearly exhibits her passive aggressive turmoil. Marnie is probably exactly like someone you know.
Overall, Bujalski’s quirky and amusing film is an authentic, unpolished representation of post collegiate-life: the awkward gestures, the chronic let-downs, the ridiculous scenarios, the overgrown kids casually debating whether loose women can become nuns and who drink beer nightly and tolerate that odd-roommate as he recounts his whiffleball-practice sob story. They’re the lower-middle class kids caught in a haze of indifference and restrained pathos, living in small, dorm-room-messy apartments. And although they seem indifferent and content, Bujalski shows just how frustrating, uncomfortable and unfunny their elongated “slacker” life can be.
Funny Ha Ha, Cinema Village East 12th Street, New York
Listen to Busted Heart - by Bishop Allen
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Yay Gothamist! I saw Funny Ha Ha last weekend and am so happy to see it here. Agree with all the above- but also liked it for some other, less relevant reasons. A big plus is that it's about post-college characters who aren't in New York (for once) that have normal lives (i.e., they don't have Friends-esque lifestyles with expensive outfits and mysterious sources of funding). If you've lived in a crappy apartment in Boston there's a good chance you'll feel an eerie familiarity with the apts/ houses within which the film is set. A good movie to see on a date or with a friend because it leaves a LOT to talk about.
i sat through about half of this movie and then we simply had to turn off the dvd player. or shoot it. or somehow render it impossible to play any more of this unclassifiably mundane and horribly boring film. judged from an entertainment standpoint, it fails miserably but even by the more lenient arthouse standard leaves it wanting. this is the uninteresting tale of some random girl who could live next door to me. except they knew better than to film the life of the girl next door to me and Bujalski should have too.
I loved this film. It really spoke to the period of time I had bumming around town after college.
and YES- it leaves A LOT to talk about.