Click to read the article
Humpday (2009)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:96
Fresh:72
Rotten:24
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Observant and insightful, this indie comedy takes a different tack on the "bromance" but still makes a point without sermonizing.
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis:
It's been a decade since Ben (Duplass) and Andrew (Leonard) were the bad boys of their college campus. Ben has settled down and found a job, wife, and home. Andrew took the alternate route as a...
It's been a decade since Ben (Duplass) and Andrew (Leonard) were the bad boys of their college campus. Ben has settled down and found a job, wife, and home. Andrew took the alternate route as a vagabond artist, skipping the globe from Chiapas to Cambodia. When Andrew shows up unannounced on Ben's doorstep, they easily fall back into their old dynamic of macho one-upmanship. Late into the night at a wild party, the two find themselves locked in a mutual dare: to enter an amateur porn contest together. But what kind of boundary-breaking, envelope pushing porn can two straight dudes make? After the booze and "big talk" run out, only one idea remains -- they will have sex together on camera. It's not gay; it's beyond gay. It's not porn; it's art. But how exactly will it work? And more importantly, who will tell Anna (Delmore), Ben's wife?
Writer/director Lynn Shelton, director of My Effortless Brilliance and recipient of the "Someone to Watch Award" at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards, expertly mines the biggest ironies of the male ego to hilarious effect. Humpday is a buddy movie gone wild. --© Magnolia
Starring: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton
Starring: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard
Director: Lynn Shelton
Director: Lynn Shelton
Screenwriter: Lynn Shelton
Producer: Lynn Shelton
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Reviews for Humpday
Humpday is the most accessible film so far to come out of the so-called Mumblecore movement.
Shelton's low-fi treatment helps soften it, but too many overcooked moments still seep through.
A mumblecore bore about two heterosexual men, one living a conventional married life and the other a bohemian bachelor, who decide to make a gay porn movie on a dare. It would have been far more interesting, I'm afraid.
This film is not very believable, and it really doesn't seem to go anywhere.
In its unassuming, offhand way, "Humpday" gets the details of male friendship uncomfortably right -- the self-denials, the macho bluster, the constant comparisons about where that guy's at in life versus me.
Possibilities are at least flirted with, if not realized, the results waver between interesting and tedious, only to come up with the inevitable lemon of a resolution.
Mumblecore meets screwball in 'Humpday,' an audacious character comedy that squeezes so much humor and pertinence out of its low budget and high concept that even the audience feels the pinch.
Shelton’s film takes a quantum leap in its funny and fearless third act.
This low-budget art film about two straight men who drunkenly decide to shoot a porno together in the style of a low-budget art film is actually kind of touching, if you can get past the inherent credibility gap.
What's intriguing in this set-up is what the dare might teach the guys about the nature of sexuality.
Humpday is the reductio ad absurdum of the recent spate of bromance movies. ... It dares to ask what happens when a bromance evolves into a straight-up romance.
There's something surprisingly perceptive about the way the film looks at male relationships and friendships.
There hasn't been a mainstream movie since maybe "The Crying Game" that has so subtly brought up the possibility of a man's bisexuality than "Humpday."
One thing usually that stands out in independent films is the amateurish acting, but that's not the case here. Every performance is right on the money and feels 100% natural.
If I wanted to hear would-be counter culture yuppies yell at each other I'd hang out with my own loser friends.
The addlepated 'Humpday," wherein charcters laugh and laugh and laugh. So what's the joke?
Humpday is something surprising: a sharply observed slice of life, an entertaining example of the microbudget genre called mumblecore.
Latest News for Humpday
July 09, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Bruno is Certified Fresh
This week at the movies, we've got Austrian audacity (Bruno, starring Sacha Baron Cohen) and graduation gratification (I Love You, Beth Cooper, starring Hayden Panettiere and... More...
June 28, 2009:
Edinburgh 2009: RT's 10 Must-See Movies
The Edinburgh Film Festival has come to a close and Rotten Tomatoes thought we'd make a traditional look back over all of the films playing at this year's fest and present to... More...
June 28, 2009:
Edinburgh 2009: Humpday wins RT Award
Humpday, directed by Lynn Shelton, has become the second ever winner of the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award, it was announced today at an awards ceremony in Edinburgh.... More...
May 10, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.





