Moreland At The Movies: Humpday

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Movie Review

Humpday by T. A. Moreland

Ben (Mark Duplass) and his wife, Anna (Alycia Delmore) lay in bed laughing; they both were afraid to admit that they’re too tired for sex. And despite the importance of having sex that night – Anna is trying to get pregnant and this is her fertile time – they decide to wait until tomorrow.

Then there is a knock at the door.  Surprisingly, it’s Andrew (Joshua Leonard), Ben’s best friend from college.  While they were inseparable during the college days, Ben took the marriage, mortgage, steady job route. While Andrew opted to be a traveling artist. And he decides it’s time to drop in on his old friend, Ben.

The next day Andrew meets a woman at a coffee shop and then goes home with her where she lives with a Bohemian group of individuals.  Andrew asks Ben to stop by.  After a few hours of drinks and some smoke, the two friends get swept up in the discussion about an amateur porn film contest.  Ben and Andrew decide to enter the competition starring themselves as two straight men having sex with each other.   Later, Andrew tells Anna, thinking she already knows about the plan. She doesn’t; but she very reluctantly agrees to allow Ben to participate. The two guys get a camera and rent a hotel room.

Humpday is a movie with a very interesting set of characters, Ben, Anna, and Andrew.  The problem is the plot is not very credible. Why would too supposedly straight men agree to have sex with each other on film for others to see? Either they’re not really straight and they’re exhibitionist.  Or if they did decide to experiment would they do it in a movie for others to watch?

The film is shot so tightly that in many of the scenes only the faces of characters can be seen. This gives Humpday a more intimate feel.

Humpday gets a Rent It rating.  It has superb character development, interesting dialogue and is a solid independent film, written and directed by Lynn Shelton. But the storyline fails this otherwise strong production.  It’s rated R for adult themes and is 96 minutes in length.

HW

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