Humpday

There was a lot of promise here, but ultimately the film is a huge cop out, which perhaps is the point. In this case an opportunity to perhaps delve a bit deeper into male friendship and men's more tender feelings for each other was squandered. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

If a man had written and directed this film, it would have had a different ending. With that said, Lynn Shelton takes us on a feminist ride--after all, two women having sex on film is sometimes considered "art," so why not explore that angle with men? In the final seconds of the film when Andrew stops laughing while looking at what was recorded, I was left with this sense of his longing--for completion of something (as he said), for something more intimate with his good friend, for being part of something greater than himself--all things Ben already had. And even though the idea was booze- and drug-induced, it was Andrew who came up with it to start. Sooo...something else is going on in Andrew's mind, heart and soul. At the end of the day, I ask "Do I care about these characters?" The only one I really cared for was Anna--she had the most to lose and gain from Ben and Andrew's really implausible scheme. Acting okay...Alycia Delmore really stood out, especially in the two scenes when the truths come out.

This film is about two guy friends who have to deal with their drunken pledge to make a porn movie with each other.

I think "Humpday" is wrongly marketed as a comedy, which makes viewers expect things which are not in the film. The first half is far too slow to be a comedy, and the second half is far too heavy on words. The pacing and the tone are just not right to be a comedy. It might be entertaining to see two guys trying to work their way out of the awkward situation without having to sacrifice their reputation, but there is simply not enough material to fill 90 minutes. The film stretches for far too long, and it gets quite boring. I think it would have been better marketed as an indie drama.

What a disappointment. This film started off promisingly, with a very funny premise that is established in a semi-believable way. Sadly, that is really all there is to the film. The funny premise leads nowhere, it is just milked and milked and milked until the audience is no longer laughing, but rather just waiting for it to end. Believability also starts going out the window about halfway through the film, with characters acting and reacting in ways that no human would, but are required contrivances to keep the story rolling along.

I too was not a fan of the overall aesthetic of the film, a sort of forced naturalism, with almost exclusively hand-held camera work, awkward quick focus and zoom changes, and an improvised feel to the dialog. I felt this sharply contrasted with the highly contrived nature of much of the script, and I also feel that it is generally unpleasant anyway.

Those thinking that "Humpday" is about any ordinary Wednesday are in for a rude awakening from this flick written and directed by Lynn Shelton. For everyone else, you know you're in for a brave and, at times, very funny account of two straight guys who decide to make a gay porno. The two guys are best friends Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard), whose lives have taken very different directions since High School. Ben is married to Anna (Alycia Delmore) with a baby on the way and Andrew is an artist and world traveler spending time with different women and experiences. The night after Andrew just shows up at Ben's doorstep looking to reconnect, the two find themselves at a party (at a house called Dionysus) thrown by Andrew's friend. Alcohol and the bong get passed around, guards are let down, and the conversation turns to sexual pleasures such as letting the dog lick peanut butter off you. Andrew mentions that he'd really like to make an erotic art film and Ben thinks that porn is a dime a dozen and if you really want to make something memorable, it has to be unique. The combination of these ideas plus being intoxicated leads to a pact where the two agree to have sex with one another. Can they do it? Will the two figure things out about themselves? Will Anna go along with it? The later question presents some very funny dance-around-the-subject moments. The developments in this movie about breaking down the walls of male homophobia are interesting. Actual nudity or sex is never shown nor does the movie fall back on crude humor but there is a lot of talk. Both guys feel like they have something to prove; Andrew that he is an uncompromising artist and Ben that he is not the boring, buttoned down family man that people think. Yet both are threatened, Andrew at a dildo introduced during a three-way and Ben at having feelings for a video store clerk. A scene where a basketball game between the two turns into a wrestling match says something for comfortable vs. uncomfortable physical intimacy between men and an honest conversation where Ben and Anna talk of their multi-faceted sexual needs not being met in this relationship alone are nice additions. Of course in the final scene the big question is broken down and analyzed, and some of the funniest stuff the movie has to offer is introduced. Will the physical fear become too real for the guys once hump day finally comes? The film is very talky and the camera work is grainy and dull-looking but what keeps the movie rolling are two very good performances from Duplass and Leonard. Duplass as the buttoned down, responsible Ben and Leonard as the wild-eyed, energetic Andrew; both display a willing but anxious chemistry of two guys who desperately want to be braver than they actually are. "Humpday" isn't always fun to watch but it's brave, funny, and interesting.