Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Humpday
Directed by Lynn Shelton
Magnolia 07/09 DVD/VHS Feature Film
R - some strong sexual content, pervasive language, a scene of drug use

Ben (Mark Duplass) and Anna (Alycia Delmore) are happily married and live in a house in Seattle. They are planning to have a child. One evening at two o'clock in the morning, they are awakened by a loud banging on the door. It's Andrew (Joshua Leonard), Ben's college buddy who has just returned from Chiapas, Mexico. He is a wild man who sees himself as a free spirit with interests ranging from women to art. These two friends haven't kept up with each other except for a few postcards from Andrew's global jaunts. They have a lot of catching up to do. That is why when Anna volunteers to cook them dinner the next day, they both are eager to seize the moment.

But in the afternoon, Andrew meets a fascinating woman at a coffee shop, and she invites him to a bohemian party at her house. He then calls Ben and tells him to join them. Promising Anna he'll be back in an hour, he goes to the house which has "Dionysus" printed on the door. Partaking in liquor and marijuana, Ben loses all track of time. He finds exciting to be in the company of an artistic band of sexually liberated people.

Trying to prove that he is a nonconformist and free spirit himself, Ben proposes that he and Andrew submit a film of them having sex with each other to Humpfest, an amateur porn festival in Seattle. Andrew agrees since he has never completed any of his art projects. The two buddies vow to make an art film that is beyond gay.

Humpday is written and directed by Lynn Shelton who is interested in exploring the dynamics of male camaraderie. She draws out top-notch and naturalistic performances from Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard. Ben and Andrew have some inner work to do to tame the simplistic images they have of each other, the competitiveness which comes to the surface in a sloppy basketball game, and their inability to handle their honest feelings. Alycia Delmore as Anna has her shining moments when she finds out about Ben's outrageous film project.

The French writer and director Jean-Luc Godard once wrote: "Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self." Anyone who wants to explore this forbidden territory has a key to gain entry with Humpday.

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Special features on the DVD include "Behind the Scenes of Humpday"; deleted scenes; a commentary with director Lynn Shelton and crew; and a commentary with Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat