Funny Ha Ha (2002)

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1. 

   MMDan

   Kanopy 4 years ago
2. 

   Siskoid

   Andrew Bujalski's first movie, Funny Ha Ha, is also credited as originating the Mumblecore movement and that's worth both bonus points and penalties, I suppose. Like a lot of the films in the genre that followed, I'm not sure how to really parse the hyper-naturalism. Is this really how real conversations sound? Perhaps it's my decades in improv, but I can't help but see drama students trying to improvise scenes as opposed to the actual people they're meant to play. Certain tics are obvious to me. They react with surprise and delaying tactics ("Oh really?" "Uhm, WHAT?!") when they're thinking of their next line, in a way I do NOT find natural. Actual improvisers would produce something more polished and theatrical, which wouldn't be natural either, but might at least be entertaining. Fine, let's watch people live in a near-documentary world, but could they be more interesting? (Bujalski's later films would hit a better balance between real-seeming people and scripted material.) I'm fairly invested in Kate Dollenmayer's Marnie, but all the boys she's interested in or that are interested in her (including Bujalski himself) are really lame and don't deserve her. Of interest is how she rebuffs the guy who moons over her just as she's rebuffed by the guy she likes (I don't know which is the absolute worst, but the other one is runner-up). The very last moment is so recursive, it speaks to the film's plotlessness, but it's also the most realistic and relatable. Some people, you never really get out of your system. 6 months ago

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