Funny Ha Ha

Funny Ha Ha_720p(480P)

First time filmmaker Andrew Bujalski's extremely low-budget feature "Funny Ha Ha" has many of the hallmarks of an early John Cassavetes film: grainy camera-work, minimalist storytelling, and naturalistic, ad lib performances. Bujalski's cast of characters is made up entirely of white urban youth in their early to mid 20's - that awkward period in life after an individual has finished college yet before he has moved on to building his own career and family. Given what appears to be their first real taste of freedom and independence, the characters do little but sit around, get drunk, and talk about their romantic relationships, but Bujalski observes all this without hysteria and judgment, thereby lending the film the aura of real life being caught on film. The focal point is an attractive young woman named Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) who drinks a bit too much, seems vaguely directionless and lacking in energy, and is somewhat inexperienced in the ways of love, but who, nevertheless, seems reasonably well grounded and knows her own limits as a person. "Funny Ha Ha," despite its occasional raggedness and self-indulgence, is blessedly free of contrivance and melodramatics. These may not be the most goal-oriented or socially-conscious youth we've ever encountered in the movies, but neither are they the most troubled or self-destructive. They seem like pretty ordinary kids living in the moment and only vaguely aware that there's a world outside of themselves that they are destined to become a part of in the very near future. The beauty of the dialogue rests in its ability to capture with uncanny accuracy the way people in the real world actually speak. The characters interact in ways that are genuine and believable, and life just seems to be unfolding as we watch it on screen. This is due in small measure to the fine performances from a cast of virtual unknowns who know how to appear relaxed, honest and natural in front of the camera. With its improvisational and off-the-cuff film-making style and its abrupt, the-camera-just-ran-out-of-film ending, "Funny Ha Ha" makes us feel as if we are eavesdropping on the daily lives of a handful of relative strangers. Lucky for us, they turn out to be people in whom we can see something of ourselves reflected, and with whom we enjoy spending our time.

So, it's like ... you know, like, when you're just out of college and ... and you, like, really don't want to move back home with your parents and you try to ... I don't know ... make a life of your own, and it's just so ... well, it's all in this indie movie about this girl, OK? And her name is Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) and she's bummed because ... well, first, she's 23 years old, real cute and smart and stuff. But she's not bummed by all that. She's bummed because she really likes this guy Alex (Christian Rudder from the Bishop Allen rock band). But, like, Alex doesn't like her in the same way. I mean, he likes her as a friend, OK? But not, like, the way Marnie really, really likes Alex ... OK, so, like, anyway, Marnie doesn't know what to do and her friends are all, like trying to help her out, even though they keep giving her too much to drink, and every time she drinks, she does dumb stuff like going to a tattoo parlor or kissing a guy she hardly knows. And then there's this other guy she meets at her temp job, a borderline loser named Mitchell (the movie's writer-director Andrew Bujalski), who really wants to go out with Marnie. Which he does, but only after Marnie says she has a boyfriend, even though she doesn't. And she also knows that Alex just got married, spur-of-the-moment, with an ex-girlfriend ... It's just, like ... well, a lot like real life for 20-somethings. And Bujalski's raw, but tender first feature captures the whole bittersweet tangle of half-digested emotions and half-finished sentences with sympathy and poise.

I Love Indy films and foreign films. I do appreciate their quirkiness and non-mainstream story/filming. This is not one I would run out and purchase for my video library and invite everyone over to watch it over and over. It drags on and on where no one can articulate anything, not even a clear thought. Maybe that is funny? or haha on me. It has the premise of figuring out life day in and day out post college pre-marriage. Hum-drum. Others have done this and perfected this like Larry David but he is funny and Woody Allen as he is not only funny but clever. Both of these self-visualization directors have a resolve at the end. This movie misses the mark on all. It was like watching a home movie- so many parts of the scenes were hard to visualize or focus on (too much close-up not that the movie was "out of focus"). Now that was interesting as the filming technique parallels each characters' life. Though that may not be the depth this director was going for. If the US Open Tennis finals are on the TV and this is too, watch the tennis. It has humor, drama, real life and a resolve.

It is indeed funny, but in a languid and quiet way. Kind of like watching a bird trying to fish unsuccessfully. It is SO damn refreshing to watch a film about young people that doesn't push to show decadence and drugs and sex and self deprecation and alcohol and oh-my-good-we're-so-f**cked-up as the only interesting reality. This film is beautiful because it is about moments and not about plot and beats and resolutions. It is about how complex simplicity is(or so it felt to me). While some script-writers and film-makers try hard to find "alternative" structures to aid their grandeur, this movie just follows and listens. Very carefully. And takes us by the hand as a friendly companion and not a rigid guide. We need more people like this guy making movies in this side of the world.

This was the worst movie I've seen in a long time. Fair enough it was filmed on a tiny budget which explains the lack of polish and style. But a little substance, a good story would have made up for the rough edges. Unfortunately this 90 minute movie dragged on for 60 minutes too long. It's a story about Marnie and her friends. How relationships change after people leave college. But these people don't have any chemistry. They look like they're straining to remember their lines rather than a group of friends who are comfortable with each other. I guess thats the point. All the characters are awkward and unsure of themselves. Maybe the writer/director/actor Andrew Bujalski was trying to make a story that would resonate with other 20-somethings just out of college, trying to figure themselves out. I'm sorry but he failed miserably. I didn't feel any empathy for these characters. If I met these losers I'd run in the opposite direction.

This seemed to be just the kind of movie I enjoy, but turned out to be a shell of the same. The director gets some things right, like his choice of star and some of the scene pacing. Dialog and character interactions breathe properly; they're languid and yet vaporous, as some other reviewers have said. Too bad they all come to nothing. Marnie's a vacuous amalgam, not a character; she's the camera, not a human being. Encounters and relationships don't build through sequence or consequence; almost nothing happens that informs or affects a subsequent scene. Through her, we see the other characters, who are almost universally portrayed by much lesser actors. There's no character arc; the script feels self-indulgent and ultimately trivial. The entire movie is Marnie amused, Marnie bemused, Marnie bored... audience bored. Bujalski had the pieces to make a remarkable film, but instead he never got the transmission out of neutral.

An ultra-low budget film about aimless twenty-somethings wasting their lives brings to mind Richard Lindlater's 'Slacker'; and while Andrew Bujalski's film lacks that movie's experimental formlessness, it does share something of the same mood. The cinematography has the feel of a super-eight home movie; but the piece is acutely observed and feels real throughout. Unfortuantly, it's just not that interesting, in part because its characters just aren't that interesting, and in a sense this isn't accidental; their directionless existence owes much to the fact that they simply haven't lived enough to have anything to care about, anything to say. And while there should be a profound sadness underpinning this, and some sociological analysis, the film never seems to scrape below its surface of whiny, unhappy people. You wouldn't dislike these people in real life, but if they have any notable attributes, they're not on display, and you wouldn't go out of your way to spend time in their company. But what's true of the characters is sadly also true of the film that contains them.

Very slooooow... You'll probably have a couple of smiles but you won't be able to stop checking your watch and wondering when it is going to end. Don't waste your time unless you're really deep into independent movies.

This movie should be shown to all film students as the perfect example of a bad movie. Although20 somethings might understand this movie it still seems bad to me, There is no explanation of any of the characters, background, family ambitions etc. The whole movie seems improv and BAD improv at that. The word amateur comes to mind with regard to the lackof a script, motivation of the characters. The whole movies is aimless, a mess photographically and absolutely excruciating to sit through.I have to care about people in an art form whether a movie, a play, or a book.I couldn't care less about these people. I have hired college students and 20 somethings for 25 years and never, ever met a single one as shallow, hopless and miserable as these people.