Funny Ha Ha | |
---|---|
Directed by | Andrew Bujalski |
Produced by |
Ethan Vogt Morgan Faust Hagai Shaham |
Written by | Andrew Bujalski |
Starring |
Kate Dollenmayer Mark Herlehy Christian Rudder Jennifer L. Schaper Myles Paige Marshall Lewy |
Cinematography | Matthias Grunsky |
Distributed by | Fox Lorber Sundance Channel Goodbye Cruel Releasing Wellspring Media |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Funny Ha Ha is a 2002 American film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It has been described as the first mumblecore film. The film was shot on 16 mm film on a very low budget. It deals with the lives of people in their twenties as they try to come to terms with life after college and confront the responsibilities of adulthood, if only to put them off for as long as possible.
The film follows the exploits of recently graduated protagonist Marnie as she tries to find a temporary job and win the attention of a college friend named Alex (who is already in a relationship), while trying to cut down on her beer consumption. The film's events take place around the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
The movie was largely successful with critics, who praised it for its realism. It received an 87% freshness score on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 78 on Metacritic.
Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe called the film a "smartly observed, unpretentious, and unconventional comedy of manners".Daily Variety's Robert Koehler said the movie was "beautifully observant and wholly unpretentious".
It was named to top 10 lists by A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Kimberley Jones of The Austin Chronicle, Mark Mohan of The Oregonian and Robert Koehler of Variety.
The film's widest release was three theaters. It grossed $82,620.
The film later came to be described as the first Mumblecore film, a new genre of American film making characterized by low budgets, amauteur actors and naturalistic settings.
Andrew Bujalski was the winner of the 2004 Someone to Watch Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film won the featured film award at the 2004 Black Point Film Festival. In 2005, Kate Dollenmayer was runner-up for the National Society of Film Critics Best Actress award.