Funny Ha Ha (2003): B+

Andrew Bujalski’s no-budget indie Funny Ha Ha is many things, but humorous – in the playful, jovial vein implied by its title – it is not. A sympathetic portrait of recent college grad Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) as she uneventfully wanders to and fro in search of a job, a beer and love, the film affects a brand of improvisatory realism, its largely unprofessional cast’s performances and winding hand-held cinematography exuding the impression that we’ve been granted brief, privileged access to this lonely young woman’s private life. Bujalski is least successful at faithfully reproducing the “like” and “um”-punctuated idiom of higher-educated 20-somethings, who even in their dullest moments generally don’t sound half as scatterbrained and self-involved as these characters. Yet though their solipsism is more irritating than appealing, Marnie and company’s rambling conversations – in which deflection and misdirection are achieved through stammers, topic changes, and outright lies about prior statements – shrewdly reflect a more paralyzing fear of commitment, whether it be to romance, career or (as in the superb opening scene) a tattoo. And in a stunning instance of passive-aggressive anger enacted by Marnie suitor Mitchell (self-effacingly played by the director) or the perfectly abrupt climax of (potential) maturation, Bujalski’s subtly well-constructed film – its lackadaisical rhythm obscuring a quite calculated narrative and thematic composition – reveals a charmingly idiosyncratic sincerity.