Funny Ha Ha

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Ravenswood R The weird awkwardness of being a totally average middle class person with no direction in life, post college. All of the characters are shown to be normal, but it calls into question what normal is, since they are all socially inept to some extent. That could very well be what normal is. Not a plot driven film at all. As a viewer you are in a voyeuristic position simply watching these young people fumble through their lives. There isn't all that much here, but it is interesting and captivating and holds your attention just watching these bumbling people trying to figure out how to relate to each other. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Indie to the core. Follows Marnie, a mid-twenties 'slacker' figuring things out. Awkward moments aplenty, its honest and realistic dialogue comes injected with a flurry of stumbling conversations. Centred around the interplay between platonic and romantic relationships, we observe a set of characters looking for love in places where it may not necessarily be found. Companionship and the many forms of human interaction are acutely observed with delicate detail. The lack of plot or driven narrative did not derail its power to remain intriguing. Part of the strength lies behind the convincing acting at play, producing a subtle yet involving piece. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Natural and humanistic and possibly the most influential mumblecore movie out there, Funny Ha Ha is able to be consistently awkward, funny, and smart without ever feeling staged or scripted. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie supposedly started "mumblecore," the film movement defined by stories that are sometimes just as meandering and seemingly unsure as its oftentimes postgrad twenty-something characters. Some might consider that a criticism, but if anyone does it well it's Andrew Bujalski. The movie unfolds in an unforced way that feels very much like hanging out versus just dragged through plot points. However that doesn't mean there's no skill or interest involved. A lot does happen in the movie for main character Marnie, played attractively by Kate Dollenmayer: she almost gets a drunk tattoo, goes to parties, starts a new job, has unfinished business with an ex. All the parts we're so accustomed to in more mainstream early adulthood films are there, but the difference is in the approach. It's a well written and tightly structured movie, but what differentiates it -and what leads to its criticisms- is the way the characters deal with these developments. Instead of exploding with emotion and dialing up the drama Marnie and everyone that surrounds her react with understatement and subtlety. Its kind of like watching melodrama unfold at library room tone. Understandably, this type of movie isn't for everyone. However, for anyone who knows or wants to know what that postgrad malaise feels like, perhaps no genre does it better than mumblecore, and no film a better example than Funny Ha Ha. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member refreshingly honest and low-key. lacking in the climax department, but dollenmayer's performance is engaging, and carries the film through. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member One thing to know about me, I am NO fan of the summer blockbuster film. Garish special effects, unrelatably attractive movie stars and inauthentic dialogue finds no favor here. Undoubtedly there are others who share those same feelings since a film like "Funny Ha Ha" exists; a work so far removed from those excesses that the two styles may as well be alien languages. I enjoyed a film like "My Dinner With Andre" because, although similarly sparse, it joyfully reveled in the unique space of it's own hyper-intellectual avant-gardism but "Funny Ha Ha" doesn't seem focused on any real purpose. Kate Dollenmayer nails the cute, approachable girl-next-door appeal on screen but everything about the film is too absurdly realistic to be entertaining. Dull characters and poor acting abound in a movie that could be most graciously described as ardent amateurism. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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