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A true to life relationship comedy; a delightful indie debut

Nathan Andersen | Florida | 08/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the real thing. A genuine indie-flick without the pretentiousness or quirkiness or "big-issue" feel that has pigeonholed the "Sundance" style film. This is just a remarkably fresh and engaging story about a young woman figuring herself out; a film that plays with the ambiguities that comes from an age/culture that doesn't want to judge anybody or anything but where individuals can still be hurt by the actions of others. The dialogue is as perfect and genuine and real and awkward as anything I've seen on film (or in life, in people of this age). I knew people like the characters here in college and grad school, and the story kept me involved and caring about them. I agree with other reviewers that this film is easily as important and interesting as other major indie debuts like Stranger than Paradise, Slackers, Clerks, and Sex Lies and Videotape. Here's hoping that as Andrew Bujalski (and his stellar cast) finds the much-deserved acclaim from this film he doesn't lose the honesty and edge of this simple, low budget masterpiece."

Don't Just Take My Word For It

Gary L. Stewart | Santa Monica, CA USA | 08/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Check out rave reviews in every major daily in cities where the film played LA, NY, Austin, SF, Boston. This on top of good notices in Entertainment Weekly, Variety and an Independent Spirit Award to boot.

The film basically a different kind of horror movie for adults-where the threat of death or physical harm isn't a problem, but where trying to finish a sentence, say what's on your mind(or even know what's on your mind)produce moments of great terror and comedy at the same time. This is the kind of film that in the only recently marginalized world of indie cinema would share in the same accolades given Stranger Than Paradise, Slacker
and early Mike Leigh. It's that good."

Goofy-cute people conducting profoundly casual conversations

Carter | 07/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Most of the ha-ha's in Funny Ha Ha are not exactly funny: Andrew Bujalski's debut feature is foremost a squirming comedy of recognition. This Boston ultra-indie-which Bujalski wrote, directed, edited, and co-starred in-slouches through the blurry limbo of post-collegiate existence, a period at once ephemeral and cruelly decisive. It opens with 23-year-old heroine Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) stumbling into a tattoo parlor, where the proprietor refuses to ink her because she's plastered. This movie is about the fear of the permanent-and the barely conscious, unwittingly reckless processes behind life-altering decisions-might be subtitled The Possibly Indelible Adventures of a Desultory Twentysomething.

Structured around nonevent and inaction, Funny Ha Ha recalls Jamie Thraves's 2000 British indie The Low Down, a neglected mini-masterpiece of quarter-life malaise. Bujalski's film likewise thrums with ambivalent dread-underlying the characters' inert indecision is a reluctance to let the rest of their lives begin, not least for fear that it might prove an undifferentiated haze. The final scene is as close to perfection as any Amerindie has come in recent memory-in a single reaction of Marnie's, we see a small but definite shift in perspective; abruptly, Bujalski stops the film, as if there's nothing more to say. It's a wonderful parting shot for a movie that locates the momentous in the mundane."

Smartly observed film has unpolished charm

Diana | 07/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's both obvious and inexplicable why the release of ''Funny Ha Ha" went nowhere for so long. Obvious: The film lacks polish. Inexplicable: That's part of its charm. (Bujalski has a bracingly unadorned style, and Matthias Grunsky's handheld photography is actually quite lovely.) Obvious: The cast is full of amateurs, especially Kate Dollenmayer, the woman playing Marnie, the film's heroine. Inexplicable: She is also one of the most simply complicated movie characters I've ever seen.

One of the beauties of Bujalski's writing and directing is the way little slights resonate with Marnie. She has to hear from Rachel and Dave (Jennifer L. Schaper and Myles Paige) that Alex (Christian Rudder), her longstanding crush, has just broken up with his girlfriend. That's ridiculous: She just ran into him, and he didn't mention that at all. But, as ''Funny Ha Ha" illustrates with great accuracy, that's life.

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