“Mumblecore goes gay” is the shorthand description that a lot of reviewers are using to describe Humpday, the indie slacker comedy from writer-director Lynn Shelton (Pictured) in which two straight dudes contemplate “bonin’ each other” for the sake of an amateur porn contest. Although the film certainly lies within the comfy confines of the genre—it’s a low-budget relationship movie utilizing improvised scripts and non-professional actors—the film’s tagline, “it’s beyond gay,” is a more apt description of this good-natured comedy because it’s essentially a movie about two friends who have emotionally grown in different ways. The gay stuff is just an excuse for two guys to examine how their lives have changed. What we actually have in Humpday is the male, mumblecore variation on the Goldie Hawn-Susan Sarandon film The Banger Sisters.
The performances of the cast more than make up for the “outrageous” but relatively unexplored idea at the center of the film, however. Mark Duplass (practically the dean of mumblecore after The Puffy Chair and Baghead) plays Ben, who is married to Anna (Alycia Delmore). Ben is startled but delighted when Joshua Leonard—as his childhood friend, the free-spirited Andrew—comes knocking on the door of the couple’s Seattle apartment at two in the morning looking for a place to crash. When Andrew hooks up with a group of free thinkers, including Monica (played by Shelton) and her girlfriend, Lily (Trina Willard), who host a Friday night free-for-all, he invites Ben to join the festivities. Ben quickly falls into party mode and, as the group sit around sharing a hookah pipe, the talk focuses on Humpfest, Seattle’s legendary amateur porn-movie contest.
Before long, the idea of Ben and Andrew having sex on camera is advanced and giggled over. (“It’s tender—in the butt,” Ben comments.) But the idea quickly fires the imagination of the friends. It also doesn’t hurt that the duo have the free-loving lesbian couple egging them on. The next day, in the midst of the hangover and a reprimand from Anna, Ben and Andrew decide that this “art project” is a worthy endeavor and dare each other to see it through. But Ben still has to tell Anna, and Andrew has to get over his own hang-ups (brought to light at the outset of a three-way with the lesbian couple when Lily pulls out a dildo that freaks out Andrew).
Though there’s a lot of talk about the two dudes (and the word is used at least 50 times in the film) “bonin'” each other, the duo never seems to consider the much more provocative idea of the shared intimacy involved in lovemaking as opposed to the strictly physical act, and they take no cues from the lesbian couple, who cuddle and kiss without pretense in front of them when the idea is first suggested. There’s a great scene where Ben reveals in a long monologue that he once was attracted to a video-store clerk (beautifully sustained by Duplass, who has the same likeable everyman quality that Jason Segel has) but Andrew quickly deflects this. Although there’s a hint of suspense and some comedic moments in their anxiety when the two finally meet up uncomfortably in a nondescript motel room at the climax, the movie—which has begun with such an attention-grabbing premise—hasn’t added up to much.
I found it interesting (and not surprising) that this potentially provocative idea was advanced by a female writer-director. (How would a straight male director have approached this material?) Would two straight women characters have such hesitations if the situation were reversed? More interesting still—would the idea of a gay man and a lesbian “bonin’ each other” fall into the realm of a titillating “art project?” Oh wait, that movie was made in 1978 with Meg Foster and Perry King. It’s called “A Different Story” and ultimately it’s just as phony baloney—though not nearly as likeable and entertaining—as Humpday is.
Film notes:
—As part of its monthly First Tuesdays program, the Midwest Independent Film Festival will present an exclusive sneak peek of the forthcoming lesbian drama Hannah Free. The movie, which stars Sharon Gless and was locally shot (and produced by Sharon Zurek and Windy City Times Publisher Tracy Baim), was recently honored with the closing-night spot at San Francisco’s Frameline festival. (In addition, Wendy Jo Carlton directed the film and Claudia Allen wrote the screenplay.) The screening at Landmark Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark—scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4—will have a 6 p.m. pre-show cocktail reception, a producers’ panel at 6:30 p.m. and the screening at 7:30 p.m., which will be followed by a Q&A with the production team and local cast members. A post-screening reception will follow at Forno Diablo, 433 W. Diversey. Although only a limited number of the $10 (general admission) and $15 (reserved seating) tickets are available and may be sold out by the time you read this, Hannah Free will return for its theatrical engagement this fall. See www.midwestfilm.com.
—Congratulations to out writer-director Michael Sucsy on his two Emmy nominations (along with Patricia Rozema as co-writer) for his work on Grey Gardens. Among the other whopping 17 nominations for the tremendous film, which aired on HBO, are nods for stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. The film has just been released on DVD and is a must-have.
—Lisa Kudrow has also just won a Webby Award for her hilarious Web series Web Therapy, which has featured a slew of out actors, including Jane Lynch, Alan Cumming, Tim Bagley and Dan Bucatinsky (who is also one of the show’s producers). Don Roos, out director of The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings (and Bucatinsky’s off-screen partner), helms the series, which has just concluded its second season. The couple previously worked with Kudrow on the short-lived (and much-missed) HBO series The Comeback. Episodes of Web Therapy are available for download exclusively at iTunes: www.itunes.com/TV/webtherapy.
—Independent filmmaker Dee Rees is seeking support in her efforts to get a feature-length version of her short film Pariah, the story of a lesbian African-American teenager, off the ground. The short played at last year’s Sundance Film Festival and is a semifinalist in Netflix’s “Find Your Voice” film competition. View the trailer and vote for the movie at www.netflixfindyourvoice.com and find out more about the project at www.pariahthemovie.com.
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com. Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.