Sundance Day 6: HUMPDAY, BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN reviewed!
On Day 6 of Sundance, I decided to check out some of the films currently in the running for the U.S. dramatic competition of the festival.
HUMPDAY
When I read the description of HUMPDAY in the festival film guide, I have to admit that I thought it sounded like a definite hit-or-miss: Two straight guy friends, one of whom is happily married, decide they are going to have sex on camera in order create an original submission for an annual amateur porn film festival.
As it turned out, the absurd premise makes for brilliant comedy and HUMPDAY is undoubtedly one of the most surprising sleeper hits of this years Sundance. Written and directed by Lynn Shelton, a talented and stunning woman who also shows chops in the acting, production, camera assisting and editing departments, HUMPDAY is proof that you dont need a big budget to make big waves in the film world.
With only a handful of locations, most of which are simple household interiors with unremarkable production design, HUMPDAYs strength lies in the performances of its small cast, notably the interplay between the two main actors Marc Duplass, who plays the married suburbanite Ben and Joshua Leonard in the role of the vagabond artist-traveler Andrew. During the Q and A session which followed the raucously well-received screening, Shelton credited her directing style to a technique inspired by the work of director Mike Leigh where she allowed her two main actors to develop their characters dialogues themselves, and in certain scenes, left the camera rolling on and on until she captured the desired tone and energy.
The result is a bold array of memorable scenes such as a lesbian party where Andrew and Ben concoct their grand plan, the moment where Andrew lets the cat out of the bag to Bens conservative wife (played by a pitch-perfect Alycia Delmore) to the final scene in a hotel room where the two buddies attempt to realize their goal.
HUMPDAY was picked up by Magnolia pictures a few days ago for an anticipated fall distribution and is the kind of project that epitomizes Sundance at its best, further strengthening the festivals reputation as a fertile ground for highly original material shot on a shoe-string budget.
BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN
BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN is another example of an original narrative project by an up-and-coming, multi-tasking director. John Krasinski (who plays Jim Halpert on THE OFFFICE, U.S VERSION) directs and stars in this dark comedy adapted from the book by the late David Foster Wallace.
When bright anthropology phD student Sara Quinn (played by newcomer Julianne Nicholson) is dumped by her current flame (played by Krasinski), she is inspired to create an experiment which involves conducting interviews with a variety of men in an attempt to gain access to the inner workings of their hearts and souls. The result is a series of mostly mundane monologues, with the exception of a bizarre story delivered by Krasinskis character near the end of the film, which offer little insight or message as to why hideous men appear to be a dime a dozen.
While the film is barely over an hour in length, I felt myself squirming in my seat the whole time waiting for the pace to pick up or for a segment of witty, humorous dialogue that never came. Despite a valiant effort by the 29 year old first time director Krasinski, this film is mediocre at best and will prove particularly disappointing to Wallace fans and to female spectators for whom the spineless break-up lines may prove all too familiar.