Humpday, written and directed by Lynn Shelton, revolves around the relationship between two males: Ben (Mark Duplass, who with his brother Jay makes movies like The Puffy Chair and Baghead), and Andrew (Joshua Leonard, arguably the more successful of the people involved with The Blair Witch Project).
Andrew is sort of the quintessential Peter Pan -- the boy who won't grow up. He arrives at Ben's home in the middle of the night and ingratiates his way into the placid life that Ben and his wife Anna (Alycia Delmore) have built. At this point, I sort of felt I was watching a low-budget remake of You, Me & Dupree, but Lynn Shelton thankfully had other ideas.
Soon Ben is standing up Anna as he follows Andrew on his wayward adventures -- hooking up with a bisexual woman (writer-director Shelton) and her coterie of assorted polyamorous pals. While getting alternately drunk and stoned, Andrew and Ben hatch a plan to participate in an "art" festival where each entrant makes a porn film. After some discussion, the boys hit on the very weird notion of filming themselves having sex because in their minds there's no such thing as straight men having sex together on camera. (If they were to check out the Internet, they'd see that there's a myriad of porn sites that purport to show exactly that.)
That's the premise of this well-made and surprising little movie. I will confess, it took a while to hook me in. The first couple of scenes were somewhat meandering and a bit too loose for my tastes. But then, those appear to be the hallmarks of the genre dubbed "mumblecore" -- low-budget with a slightly improvisatory feel. (I have seen a couple of them, but only one other has made an impression on me -- I'm saving that review for a more appropriate date -- oops, I may have tipped my hand there.)
Mark Duplass and Josh Leonard in Humpday.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Back to Humpday. Once it settles down a bit, it becomes a really intriguing character study centered on three people. Ben agrees to do this oddball venture because he feels he owes it to his best friend. There's no homophile vibe. No one is secretly gay or anything, but Ben has an affecting confessional moment that helps to define his character. Andrew, for his part, just thinks it's a goof and like much of his free-wheeling life, he's just going along with the flow. He doesn't really take into consideration Anna until they attempt a get-to-know-you evening.
For her part, Anna is the most unusual character because she doesn't quite react in the cliched terms one might expect in a Hollywood film. Delmore has a flint-like charm and she comes off as the most relateable of the characters. She and Duplass have an easy chemistry -- they are belivable as a couple -- and there's one particular scene where she reveals something that is devestating to watch thanks to the superlative acting.
The final section of the movie is a comic delight as the guys head off to a motel to actually make their porn film and discover a lot about themselves.
So the upshot is that after a slightly rocky start, Humpday turns into a compelling and enjoyable movie about male bonding, the limits of friendships, marriage and several shades of love. Check it out!
The DVD has two commentary tracks -- one with the two lead actors who offer some interesting insights into the making of the movie, and another from the director, the leading lady and several of the crew that is equally informative. (My only quibble is that there are too many people offering insight.) There's also the requisite deleted scenes (most of which are easily understood as not being that germane to the film) and a behind the scenes featurette and trailer of other Magnolia Pictures offerings.
Rating: B+
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