Humpday (2009)

That was an excellent one.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The first must-see film of the year.

I went into this movie thinking it was a straight-up comedy. I wasn't expecting much, and truthfully the only reason I even chose it for my queue was Mark Duplass because I'm a big fan of the TV show The League.I was a little put off in the first 10 minutes or so when I realized this wasn't going to be your normal comedy. I also was turned off by the clichés of the old, restless, free-spirit friend unexpectedly popping in on his settled, average friend from school. But I did like the very first scene because of its realism. This realism was a staple of the movie, and it's what was so refreshing.At the time I didn't know it was improvised, but I wondered throughout the movie whether that was the case. The premise by itself does sound wacky and unrealistic, but it becomes believable in the context of the movie. It did have its faults, including clichés like those mentioned already, but all in all, it was just a realistic story with very believable, 3-dimensional characters.My favorite part about it was that the laughs it did evoke were not scripted ones like in most comedies (although that can work very well), but they were moments straight from real life that just happen to be funny. It was not especially funny, and I would hesitate to label it a comedy, but the humor in it was organic rather than contrived.

Being a masculine, wholly heterosexual man, I slipped into my pj's, lit and candle and settled down to watch a movie about 2 straight guys talk themselves into having gay sex.Humpday is about two best friends, separated by different lifestyles, brought a little too close together again by a "I'm not backing out of this" style drunk/high bet about making a gay art sex video.Watching these 2 superbly sculpted characters interact is a joy to anyone who has ever had a proper friend...whom they would sleep with on film for art if they had to. Their incredible well portrayed relationship begins to strangely rope you in to kinda wishing they'd go through with the deed, no matter how much the thought initially makes you feel all ewwwww inside.A few times I caught myself relating a little too much to their plight, and I doubt I'm gonna be able to look at certain friends of mine again.The script is bare and honest, perfectly delivered by the 3 main characters, and is a solid foundation for this almost documentary style movie.All in all, Humpday with not only make you cringe to the corest of your core, but also make you ask a few questions about yourself that you really don't want to be asking.

Lynn Shelton has written and directed a comedic pleasure with "Humpday". It is delightfully funny and incredibly genuine throughout. It is a serious comedy with sexual overtones that provoke thought and reason in the inquisitive movie fans. It is the story of two male friends in their 30 somethings who are reunited in a brief interlude that is interlaced with drugs, alcohol and very believable conversation. it is the incredibly believable conversations that are most intriguing. The talents of Lynn Shelton sparkle in the dialog that she has put to pen. She also has a delightful role in this picture that I can highly recommend to mature audiences.

Humpday was a downhill slide.It's a movie that's just about entirely conversation, and it began refreshing, with two seemingly open-minded straight men discussing doing a porn together as an art piece. As the movie progressed however, the characters devolved into two straight "dudes" playing chicken as to who's gonna back out of their project first.And here's a big SPOILER.Nothing happens. They don't do it. The movie ends. Honestly, after all the build- up, even if this denouement is more realistic, you'd think there'll be some kind of a payoff. Maybe you'd enjoy this movie for its witty banter, but I was a little cranky by its end because it was filmed with a hand-held cam. JezuzXrist, movies need to come with motion sickness advisory warnings.