Andrew
Bujalski has created one of the most genuinely realistic
films I have ever seen. Funny Ha Ha manages to
seem more like a documentary, than a narrative feature,
following a single main protagonist as her life weaves
into and out of other people's lives. It's amazing that
he is able capture so much true life realism in this film.
The
story of Funny Ha Ha follows a girl named Marnie
(Kate Dollenmayer), a rather quiet and stoic girl who
has just lost her job. Despite the fact that she has just
lost her job, she's not terribly concerned because she's
not the sort of girl who's terribly concerned about many
of life's setbacks. To establish this point early the
film, the director has a besotted Marnie show up at the
dorm room of some tattoo artist in order to get a tattoo
in the opening scene. However, she's so drunk that she
can't decide what she wants (except maybe a cow, because
it reminds her of her father) and the tattoo artist refuses
to tattoo someone who is drunk. Since tattooing is clearly
not in her immediate future, she simply shrugs her shoulders
and stumbles out the door, getting on with her life without
complaint.
Marnie's
laid back acceptance of change throughout the movie is
coupled, at the same time, with her overall general discontent
with her life, which is a slightly unsettling combination.
She's in love with a guy named Alex (Christian Rudder)
and makes the mistake of confessing this fact to his sister,
who immediately gets involved to try and set the two up.
Unfortunately, both Marnie and Alex are so socially inept
around one another that it takes them quite awhile to
even arrange going out. When they finally do, they manage
to hit it off well enough for Marnie to think they might
actually be more than friends. That thought ends up being
crushed when she drops by his work to find that he's gone
on vacation without telling her and, according to his
co-workers, ended up getting married to his ex-girlfriend,
Nina.
