Funny Ha Ha (2003/2005)
I was almost ready to tell you that
"Funny Ha Ha" is one of the worst movies I've ever
seen. And, really, it is. But there's something that
keeps it just from the edge of horridness. This is
a festival film, seemingly shot on consumer grade
video by college students, that somehow found a way
to get an arthouse release. I can be tolerant of such
things at film festivals. After all, that's one of
the things you go to film festivals to see. But in
a film in general release, such trappings are only
allowable if the story and characters are so strong
and amazing that you can forgive the horrible cinematic.
This one is what you might call a squeaker in that
arena.
"Funny Ha Ha" has one interesting
character provided by the only competent performer
in the piece. But the improvisational style of the
acting, the horrible camera work, the dull visual,
and the overly subtle storytelling work against the
film succeeding at every step leaving the lead actress
out in the cold without a overcoat, so to speak.
The performer of merit here is Kate
Dollenmayer who portrays lead protagonist Marnie.
Dollenmayer is cute, charming and a damn fine improver,
so one can assume that it is only through her skills
displayed here that this film ever saw the light of
the projector outside of a film festival. I have only
seen one female performer who did a better job than
Dollenmayer in a festival grade film this year and
that is Kathryn Aselton in "The
Puffy Chair." Dollenmayer's Marnie is in nearly
every scene in this film and she certainly carries
it on her back.
I only truly liked and understood
the character of Marnie after reading some comments
by other viewers of the film (and I use that term
loosely) on-line. Marnie is fresh out of college.
She's just been fired. She's still binge drinking
as she must have done in her college days. She's entering
her early twenties belonging to the alt-rock, local
party girl set. She's trying to find her place in
the adult world and that can be precarious. Dollenmayer
portrays Marnie nearly perfectly even though she is
stuck with a horrible director and worthless co-stars.
Everyone, including Dollenmayer
walk through this film like an improvising zombie
in a college film. Everyone mumbles, stumbles looking
for words to say, and "umms" and "awws" their way
through the film. All the guys in the film are supposedly
in love or lust with Marnie so they spend most of
the film blurting out stupid, ridiculous, unrealistic
lines to her and then spend the next five minutes
apologizing. When the DVD of this film comes out,
there are going to be "Funny Ha Ha" drinking games
in lots of college campuses where you take a shot
every time someone says "Sorry" in the film. Listening
to these horrible performers blunder their way through
this film is as annoying as sitting next to a drunken
idiot at an airport bar when your flight has been
delayed. The worst performer of the bunch is the director,
Andrew Bujalski, who gives himself the best part and
then does nothing with it.
The end of "Funny Ha Ha" is its
most frustrating part. Yes, I understood after a single
moment of reflection what Bujalski was getting at.
His Marnie has grown and evolved and set herself on
the right track by film's end. But the moment is so
subtle and the storytelling so disjointed here and
the acting so atrocious that the film's message is
nearly unintelligible. Several people at the screening
I attended laughed at the absurdly abrupt ending.
"Funny Ha Ha," to many, will seem a pointless, stupid,
horrible film. I'm not so sure they are all that wrong.
Notes:
Filmed in 2003 and shown at at least
one film festival. The arthouse release of the film
began in April of 2005.
Filmed on video and transferred
to 35mm film for a theatrical release.
Released by an independent company
called Goodbye Cruel Releasing. The film has been
picked up for cable by the Sundance Channel and for
a DVD release by Wellspring.
Viewed at the Dobie in Austin in
July 2005.
