Funny Ha Ha (2002)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

the audience applauded

Instant Favorite.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Films like this naturally annoy and disappoint many people, and it isn't hard for me to see why. This movie is plotless, not much really happens, and the ending is not an ending at all, if anything it is an anti-ending, which I found fitting. There is no real way to conclude this film unless all the main characters die in some way, or something much bigger happens to them, but anything like that at all would be totally out of place here. The point of this film is to depict the daily lives of some characters, dig deep into their emotions and thoughts, and then carelessly shrug as the film cuts to a solid black that feels especially opaque considering how seemingly random it is. The movie just ends in the middle of a scene that could easily have gone on for another few minutes, and led into some other scene which would then lead to yet another. The film has no real beginning, either. It opens up on a quick, insignificant little moment as the main character drunkenly looks around a tattoo shop and talks with the tattooist for a couple of minutes and he explains why he doesn't give tattoos to drunk people and then the scene kind of rambles off into termination. For me, the movie was very interesting and enjoyable to watch. The comedy was fittingly mild and usually rather uncomfortable, the atmosphere was lifelike but interesting, the main character was good company to be around, and those around her were fascinating in their own ways. The movie has emotion, but it also has moments of total dullness. It's entertaining, but also kind of boring, which doesn't make any sense but it's true anyway. It's a witty movie partially about relationships or lack of relationships, and it handles things with a sharp, and sometimes excruciatingly awkward, sense of humor as well as slight sorrow.

This seemed to be just the kind of movie I enjoy, but turned out to be a shell of the same.The director gets some things right, like his choice of star and some of the scene pacing. Dialog and character interactions breathe properly; they're languid and yet vaporous, as some other reviewers have said.Too bad they all come to nothing. Marnie's a vacuous amalgam, not a character; she's the camera, not a human being. Encounters and relationships don't build through sequence or consequence; almost nothing happens that informs or affects a subsequent scene. Through her, we see the other characters, who are almost universally portrayed by much lesser actors. There's no character arc; the script feels self-indulgent and ultimately trivial. The entire movie is Marnie amused, Marnie bemused, Marnie bored... audience bored.Bujalski had the pieces to make a remarkable film, but instead he never got the transmission out of neutral.

It's interesting to see how polarizing this film is. I think Bujalski is one of the most important filmmakers we have around. And I can't wait to see what he does next.To one of the bravest, most talented, most original guys at work. Keep it up.It's guys like Bujalski that I feel are pushing the medium forward and challenging us to think about and look at film in different ways. I'll take FUNNY HA HA over most things any day.I think one day people will go back and FUNNY HA HA will be considered a classic.

I accidentally bought this movie and have no regrets for spending the money - I can now say, "I own the worst movie of all time" and I often do without ever tiring of it. My active distaste for this movie is the most inspiring thing about it. Consider a film that has do discernible direction, below middle-school par acting ability, video and sound recorded with a late 80s direct to cassette video camera, and no original artistry as many reviewers have tried to argue. Lighting and direction couldn't have been considered by someone with an IQ over 65 - if it was, it shouldn't be claimed. I don't have enough bad things to say about it... abrupt beginning and ending, pulpy yet somehow has no substance. It's not even redeemable to people that eat up that crude BS, for it lacks cursing nudity and drugs altogether. If you're thinking, "I've seen some pretty bad movies. I dunno... I doubt that there's a worse one out there." please please please see this movie. It's worse. Much worse.