Ben (Mark Duplass) is a young married man, settling in with terrific wife Anna (Alycia Delmore), and preparing to complete their "white picket fence" suburban lifestyle with a new addition. Well, they DO get an unexpected new addition, but it comes in the form of footloose bohemian adventurer Andrew (Joshua Leonard, channeling a cross between Owen Wilson and a once-younger Jack Nicholson). Andrew just shows up on the couple's doorstep one night with the notion of reconnecting with his old college pal, and once the initial ambiguity about the situation is worked out between the three of them, the two buddies fall back into a familiar rhythm of sorts.
The following night, Andrew invites Ben over to a house where he's having dinner with a new 'friend' and her free-thinking, free-love minded compatriots, (the house is even called "Dionysus" for the chronically clueless). Good food, strong drinks and even stronger cannabis follows, loosening tongues and inhibitions, and the talk naturally turns to sex. Local free paper "The Stranger" sponsors an indie art film festival, which features amateur porn entries, called "HumpFest." In the 'joie de vivre' of recalling the macho bravado and one-upsmanship of the early days of their relationship, Ben and Andrew make a proposition for their own radical "HumpFest" entry: two straight guys having gay sex. Starring...each other.
And I will stop right there, since that's about all you need to know. As titillating and improbable as the whole thing sounds, what unfolds instead is a very adult, very smart comedy about that nebulous space between the kind of people we thought we were in our salad days, and the kind of people we'd like to think we are, even in the face of such bothersome concepts as social conventions and adult responsibility.
In some ways, HUMPDAY brings to mind the more controversial and provocative CHUCK AND BUCK, but where that dark comedy reflected on bringing an unusual relationship full circle at any cost, this one is more about self-discovery, self-acceptance, and about the unspoken boundaries of that modern conceit known as the "bromance". Can male bonding between straight guys be pushed into that uncomfortable gray area where homoeroticism bumps up against homophobia? And when it does, what happens when things start to get 'weird'?
Duplass and Leonard are wonderful flying by the improvisational seat of their pants as guided by writer/director Lynn Shelton. Delmore is even more fantastic as Anna, who initially is pole-axed by the whole idea of what her husband is proposing to do, but ultimately comes to understand it because of her own doubts and issues that - unbeknownst to him - she has been struggling with.
I would definitely agree with other reviewers here, about how this could've benefited from some judicious editing, and it would've probably made a more brilliant short than a full- length feature. But other than the aforementioned CHUCK AND BUCK, and another film to which it has been compared, the more daring SHORTBUS, HUMPDAY is a deeply observant human comedy that deserves to be seen and discussed as widely as possible. And for what it's worth, without giving out a major spoiler, the ending for me felt very realistic, although I still would've like to have had more questions answered.
Having said that, Judd Apatow should watch this. And take lots of notes.
The following night, Andrew invites Ben over to a house where he's having dinner with a new 'friend' and her free-thinking, free-love minded compatriots, (the house is even called "Dionysus" for the chronically clueless). Good food, strong drinks and even stronger cannabis follows, loosening tongues and inhibitions, and the talk naturally turns to sex. Local free paper "The Stranger" sponsors an indie art film festival, which features amateur porn entries, called "HumpFest." In the 'joie de vivre' of recalling the macho bravado and one-upsmanship of the early days of their relationship, Ben and Andrew make a proposition for their own radical "HumpFest" entry: two straight guys having gay sex. Starring...each other.
And I will stop right there, since that's about all you need to know. As titillating and improbable as the whole thing sounds, what unfolds instead is a very adult, very smart comedy about that nebulous space between the kind of people we thought we were in our salad days, and the kind of people we'd like to think we are, even in the face of such bothersome concepts as social conventions and adult responsibility.
In some ways, HUMPDAY brings to mind the more controversial and provocative CHUCK AND BUCK, but where that dark comedy reflected on bringing an unusual relationship full circle at any cost, this one is more about self-discovery, self-acceptance, and about the unspoken boundaries of that modern conceit known as the "bromance". Can male bonding between straight guys be pushed into that uncomfortable gray area where homoeroticism bumps up against homophobia? And when it does, what happens when things start to get 'weird'?
Duplass and Leonard are wonderful flying by the improvisational seat of their pants as guided by writer/director Lynn Shelton. Delmore is even more fantastic as Anna, who initially is pole-axed by the whole idea of what her husband is proposing to do, but ultimately comes to understand it because of her own doubts and issues that - unbeknownst to him - she has been struggling with.
I would definitely agree with other reviewers here, about how this could've benefited from some judicious editing, and it would've probably made a more brilliant short than a full- length feature. But other than the aforementioned CHUCK AND BUCK, and another film to which it has been compared, the more daring SHORTBUS, HUMPDAY is a deeply observant human comedy that deserves to be seen and discussed as widely as possible. And for what it's worth, without giving out a major spoiler, the ending for me felt very realistic, although I still would've like to have had more questions answered.
Having said that, Judd Apatow should watch this. And take lots of notes.