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Humpday

Director: Lynn Shelton

“Humpday”, to put it simply, is the mumblecore answer to bromantic comedies like “I Love You, Man”. Such an easy description doesn’t quite do the concept justice, however, as director Lynn Shelton uses her rather obscure premise to create what is, at times, a surprisingly touching comedy. The film not only explores the limits of male bonding, but, in a beautiful sequence in a hotel room, it illustrates heart-to-heart as foreplay.

A brief introduction to mumblecore: a group of young directors – the Duplass Brothers (“Baghead”) and Joe Swanberg (“Nights and Weekends”) among them – aim for ultra-naturalism with the armchair philosophies of twenty-something city-dwellers. The movement’s defining characteristics have shown to be their limitation, however, as very few of these films find something unique to say. “Humpday” is one of those that does.

The set up reminds me of Kelly Reichardt’s terrific “Old Joy” (that was neo-neorealism, not to be confused with mumblecore, got it?). Two old  friends are reunited – the free-spirited friend, Andrew (Joshua Leonard) in this case, returns home from some time in Mexico to visit a college friend, Ben (Mark Duplass). Ben’s married, has his own house, and is looking to start a family with his supportive wife, Anna (Alycia Delmore).

While at a party with Andrew’s friends, Ben learns of an art festival known as Humpfest. Amateur filmmakers make thematically rich pornographic films, which are then burned at the end of the contest – they’re taking back pornography, as they say. Suddenly, Andrew and Ben are confronted with an idea: two straight guys having sex. It’s beyond gay.

I like that Shelton never went for the simple gross out gags. For two straight men about to make a porn tape, they remain rather mature – only in mild, awkward conversations do the logistics of the whole situation surface (how will they, for instance, get erect?). The film’s lengthy final sequence, taking place in the hotel room that serves as a film set, is quite touching. In preparing for fornication, the men are driven together by this intimacy that’s largely unmatched between straight male characters in film. It’s an absurd set up for what is actually a quiet, tender finale.

“Humpday” mostly works because of it’s premise. Other “mumblecore” efforts, like “Nights and Weekends”, suffer from a miniscule narrative and not enough to say. There’s something to these characters beyond “embittered hipsters in love”.

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