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. (The pained expressions in theater seats are likely to match those on the screen, as moviegoers share the embarrassment and nervousness of the characters in the story.)

Ted Speaker/Magnolia Pictures

Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard are heterosexual friends caught in a quandary after their drunken vow to make a movie about having sex with each other in "Humpday."

Humpday

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Rated R for some strong sexual content, pervasive language and a scene of drug use

Length: 93 minutes

Released: July 10, 2009 NY/Seattle

Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard

Director: Lynn Shelton
Writer: Lynn Shelton
Genre: Drama
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures

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Written and directed by Lynn Shelton (with the input of her three lead actors), the premise is bold and ingenious: Two longtime, apparently thirtysomething friends -- a happily married "transportation planner" named Ben (Mark Duplass) and a globetrotting but aimless free spirit named Andrew (Joshua Leonard) -- pledge, during a party fueled by alcohol and marijuana, to have sex with each other, on camera, to contribute an "erotic art film" to Seattle's (real-life) HUMP! fest, which showcases amateur pornography. The idea is that the friends' "awesome art project" will be "beyond gay," and show audiences something they've never seen before: Heterosexual males having sex (as an expression of friendship, not lust).

Needless to say, the morning after brings doubt and anxiety as well as hangovers, especially when Ben's wife (Alycia Delmore) discovers the plan. The reactions (Duplass and Leonard are writer-directors themselves) are convincing, and hilarious; the cover-ups and phony excuses wouldn't be out of place in an episode of "I Love Lucy" or a classic screwball comedy, even if the premise likely wouldn't be acceptable in any production with a budget beyond that needed for the on-location, handheld-camera esthetic represented here, typical of the recent spate of lo-fi films that have been dubbed "mumblecore."

Perfectly timed to function as an indie response or complement to the current trend in "bromantic" and boys-will-be-boys/girls-watch- in-horror studio comedies (think "I Love You, Man" and "The Hangover"), "Humpday" is funny but also poignant as it examines the peculiarities, vanities and insecurities of male behavior. (It's very much like a comedy revamp of "Old Joy," a superb 2006 film, also shot in the Pacific Northwest, about a similar married man reunited for an uneasy weekend with another bearded nomad friend.)

Shelton -- who also appears in the film, as a sexy bohemian whose presence at the party encourages Ben and Andrew to show off with their daring idea -- rarely strikes a bum note. This bodes well for "$5 Cover: Seattle," which Shelton recently shot for MTV and producer Craig Brewer as a followup to Brewer's Memphis-made online series (simply titled "$5 Cover"), which debuted earlier this year. "Humpday" is Shelton's third feature; her second, "My Effortless Brilliance," screened at the 2008 Indie Memphis Film Festival (where Shelton, "Humpday" associate producer Ted Speaker and director of photography Benjamin Kasulke were judges).

The premise of "Humpday" is so strong that the film, inevitably, paints itself into a narrative corner. Will they or won't they? is the question that hovers over much of the film, and it's a question that may be impossible to resolve to an audience's satisfaction. If Ben and Andrew complete their project, some moviegoers will be repulsed; if they don't, some moviegoers will accuse the movie of copping out. I won't reveal the ending, but I will say the first two-thirds of the movie are so acute and entertaining that the last act, set in the hotel room where the friends plan to make their movie, would have to be an utter disaster to diminish the success of what preceded it.

"Humpday" is playing exclusively at Malco's Ridgeway Four.

-- John Beifuss: 529-2394