Review of Funny Ha Ha (2003) by Seb M — 21 Jun 2007

The acclaimed breakout film of the so-called 'mumblecore' movement, Andrew Bujalski's debut is part Cassavetes, part Woody Allen, and part MySpace confessional - with all the inarticulacy and self-definition anxiety that comes with digital socialisation.

A triumph of low-fi production values (the film was shot on grainy 16mm) and naturalistic ensemble acting, it is a film of gradually accreted drama and tiny moments. Kate Dollenmayer's directionless heroine leads a suitably meandering narrative, granted a real frisson of menace by Bujalski's character Mitchell, who in dropping a beer bottle over a balcony, encapsulates a modern self-hatred and rage more potently than a hundred Adam Sandler movies.