HUMPDAY Straight-male masculinity is put to the test in this very earnest attempt to explore friendship and sexuality while steering clear of the "b"-word (as in the recently coined bro-mance genre) ... this is NOT a farce!
3 stars [(2009)USA/Magnolia/Rated R] - (1 hr 35 min)
Writer, Director, & Co-star: Lynn Shelton
Original Music by Vince Smith Cinematography by Benjamin Kasulke Editor: Nat Sanders
Cast ... Characters (linked to IMDbPRO.com): Mark Duplass ... Ben (the married guy) Joshua Leonard ... Andrew (Ben's long-lost bohemian pal) Alycia Delmore ... Anna (Ben's wife) Lynn Shelton ... Monica (Andrew's bi-sexual friend) Trina Willard ... Lily (Monica's lesbian lover)
Review:
"Two straight dudes ... bonin'." -Ben
The word 'Humpday' was originally coined as a humorous term for the middle-day of the work week (getting over the hump), and certainly sounds more interesting than the word it replaces: Wednesday.
But now, writer-director Lynn Shelton has adopted the slang-ier meaning of the first syllable 'hump' (have sex) and added a homo-erotic resonance (of sorts).
To sum up, the concept for the film revolves around two straight guys who get talked into making a gay-porn video for a private 'visual arts' festival known as (yet again) HUMPDAY.
Now if homophobic Hollywood had been bold enough to take on this kind of masculinity-defying idea, the result would have been a high-concept farce not unlike the Adam Sandler/Kevin James vehicle "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," with most of the jokes made at the expense of gay lifestylers rather than for them. Thus defeating the purpose of really exploring how straight men feel about gay sex and how they identify as either gay, "bi", or straight.
Well, third-time narrative-feature director Lynn Shelton is not at all interested in playing this concept for laughs (alone), so don't expect the laugh riot that the title might indicate or an "indie" version of "The Hangover." Shelton is much more interested in frankly exploring what a male-male friendship-bond really is and what's the breaking point for such a relationship.
Is anal sex the dealbreaker? Is just getting naked in front of your BFF an act of gayness? Should a man's wife have any say-so when a friendship is taken to a sexual level? Is this the ultimate test of a friendship and is it one you would ever want to try?
These are uncomfortable questions to ask and answer, and one can see why Hollywood tends to play serious "sexual" material for big laughs, because no one wants to take the mass audience out of their comfort zone.
The much more widely distributed Sascha Baron Cohen vehicle "Bruno" shows all too clearly how sensitive the general public is to flamboyantly gay personalities and, as stated above, it's played for laughs for the most part (with a fair amount of shock value added to the mix).
Which is why "Mumblecore"-style, extremely low-budget films like "Humpday" can exist at all, since even the narrowest of niche audiences is large enough to support an artist's vision (if the artist is willing to shoot digitally with a non-union cast & crew). These artists can go where "profit-conscious" Hollywood can't.
And they do.
And best of all, these genre-busting, limited release, art-house vid-films ("Baghead," etc.) occasionally eclipse Hollywood's big-budget Oscar contenders by revealing the truth in a totally new way or discovering a fresh talent.
As an audience member, I felt some sections of "Humpday" were uncomfortable to watch, and a portion of the semi-improvised dialogue could have been sharpened, but at the same time, the performance of Alycia Delmore was worth the price of admission alone. As Ben's wife 'Anna', Delmore's performance is as true, spontaneous, and award-worthy as anything the Oscar-folk will nominate at the end of the year.
Thus proving the idea that you don't need big stars and a multi-million dollar budget to make cinema. Now all you have to do is ask yourself one last question: Am I ready for Mumblecore?
"You're not as Kerouac as you think you are." -Ben
3 stars [(2009)USA/Magnolia/Rated R] - (1 hr 35 min)
Writer, Director, & Co-star: Lynn Shelton
Original Music by Vince Smith Cinematography by Benjamin Kasulke Editor: Nat Sanders
Cast ... Characters (linked to IMDbPRO.com): Mark Duplass ... Ben (the married guy) Joshua Leonard ... Andrew (Ben's long-lost bohemian pal) Alycia Delmore ... Anna (Ben's wife) Lynn Shelton ... Monica (Andrew's bi-sexual friend) Trina Willard ... Lily (Monica's lesbian lover)
Review:
"Two straight dudes ... bonin'." -Ben
The word 'Humpday' was originally coined as a humorous term for the middle-day of the work week (getting over the hump), and certainly sounds more interesting than the word it replaces: Wednesday.
But now, writer-director Lynn Shelton has adopted the slang-ier meaning of the first syllable 'hump' (have sex) and added a homo-erotic resonance (of sorts).
To sum up, the concept for the film revolves around two straight guys who get talked into making a gay-porn video for a private 'visual arts' festival known as (yet again) HUMPDAY.
Now if homophobic Hollywood had been bold enough to take on this kind of masculinity-defying idea, the result would have been a high-concept farce not unlike the Adam Sandler/Kevin James vehicle "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," with most of the jokes made at the expense of gay lifestylers rather than for them. Thus defeating the purpose of really exploring how straight men feel about gay sex and how they identify as either gay, "bi", or straight.
Well, third-time narrative-feature director Lynn Shelton is not at all interested in playing this concept for laughs (alone), so don't expect the laugh riot that the title might indicate or an "indie" version of "The Hangover." Shelton is much more interested in frankly exploring what a male-male friendship-bond really is and what's the breaking point for such a relationship.
Is anal sex the dealbreaker? Is just getting naked in front of your BFF an act of gayness? Should a man's wife have any say-so when a friendship is taken to a sexual level? Is this the ultimate test of a friendship and is it one you would ever want to try?
These are uncomfortable questions to ask and answer, and one can see why Hollywood tends to play serious "sexual" material for big laughs, because no one wants to take the mass audience out of their comfort zone.
The much more widely distributed Sascha Baron Cohen vehicle "Bruno" shows all too clearly how sensitive the general public is to flamboyantly gay personalities and, as stated above, it's played for laughs for the most part (with a fair amount of shock value added to the mix).
Which is why "Mumblecore"-style, extremely low-budget films like "Humpday" can exist at all, since even the narrowest of niche audiences is large enough to support an artist's vision (if the artist is willing to shoot digitally with a non-union cast & crew). These artists can go where "profit-conscious" Hollywood can't.
And they do.
And best of all, these genre-busting, limited release, art-house vid-films ("Baghead," etc.) occasionally eclipse Hollywood's big-budget Oscar contenders by revealing the truth in a totally new way or discovering a fresh talent.
As an audience member, I felt some sections of "Humpday" were uncomfortable to watch, and a portion of the semi-improvised dialogue could have been sharpened, but at the same time, the performance of Alycia Delmore was worth the price of admission alone. As Ben's wife 'Anna', Delmore's performance is as true, spontaneous, and award-worthy as anything the Oscar-folk will nominate at the end of the year.
Thus proving the idea that you don't need big stars and a multi-million dollar budget to make cinema. Now all you have to do is ask yourself one last question: Am I ready for Mumblecore?
"You're not as Kerouac as you think you are." -Ben