by Frank Calvillo
Any lover of cinema cannot become one without having watched the beautiful early ’70s classic The Last Picture Show. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, the tale of a group of teens in a rural Texas town was a landmark in American filmmaking and made the young director one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the business. Bogdanovich is a true a cinephile if there ever was one and has made a career for himself crafting an assortment of distinct films, each of which bears very little resemblance to his last in terms of genre, look, and style.
While the director has been largely MIA since his last time in the director’s chair (2001’s The Cat’s Meow), the release of his latest effort, the comedy She’s Funny That Way, has been met with the most enthusiastic of glee from many a serious film nerd.
Originally written in the early 2000s, She’s Funny That Way opens on Brooklyn-born Isabella “Izzie” Patterson (Imogen Poots), a successful young film actress who is recounting to a journalist (Illeana Douglas) the break that launched her career. Working as a call girl, or “muse” as she prefers to think of it, Izzie is hired for the night by stage director Arnold Albertson (Owen Wilson). Once their business is concluded, Arnold begins work on a new Broadway play starring mischevious movie star Seth Gilbert (Rhys Ifans) and Arnold’s wife, noted stage actress Delta Simmons (Kathryn Hahn). Izzie, an aspiring actress, shows up to the audition, making things as awkward as can be. When the play’s writer, Josh Fleet (Will Forte), develops a crush on Izzie, much to the anxiety of Arnold and seething rage of his therapist girlfriend Dr. Jane Claremont (Jennifer Aniston), all hell breaks loose.
Bogdanovich has always possessed one of the most effective approaches to comedy, regardless of what kind of laughs he was going for. Whether it was the farcical tale about a manic theater company in Noises Off!, the breezy romantic comedy featuring bumbling detectives in They All Laughed, or the screwy frenziness of the pratfall-filled What’s Up Doc?, every Bogdanovich comedy is guaranteed laugh upon laugh, regardless of what kinds of characters or situations he places in front of moviegoers.
In that sense, so much of She’s Funny That Way plays out like a quintessential Bogdanovich film, from the settings of a theater and a hotel to many of the director’s longtime friends popping up here and there. Nowhere is it more evident that we are watching a Bogdanovich film than in the director’s view of New York as a small town where everyone knows each other and there are no bad guys. Instead, there’s just one delightfully quirky character after another. Additionally, his comedy setups are everywhere, from the delicious irony of Jane suggesting to Izzie that she embrace her softer side, to the farcical nature of the dialogue such as when Delta, impressed with Izzie’s audition, proclaims to Arnold, “Wasn’t she good Arnold?!,” to which he nervously replies, “I did think she was good.” Sequences such as the one in the Italian restaurant, which sees Poots trying to escape via a bathroom window and Aniston punching out Forte, somehow works with the film’s never-ending optimism, which always rings as genuine and true.
She’s Funny That Way is most definitely a tribute to the great screwball comedies of the past with its carefully plotted settings and situations. However, the film works as more than a straightforward homage. While most of the movie’s laughs register, it’s surprising and comforting to see how a film that is such an obvious nod to the beloved classics of yesteryear can fit as seamlessly as it does in today’s world. With She’s Funny That Way, Bogdanovich proves that such a genre is just as potent now as it was then.
More than that though, She’s Funny That Way shows the power and universality of optimism and resonance with the average person. This is a film which will have a person laughing from start to finish and leave them wanting to go out and embrace their lives in a stronger way than before. In short, She’s Funny That Way is the kind intoxicating film that gives you something to both dream about and believe in.
It’s amazing how believable the British-born Poots is playing a Brooklyn native. The actress makes herself instantly charming as a lovable ruffian type whose dreams and hopes she proudly wears on her sleeves. She and Wilson (appropriately neurotic) have some nice, fun chemistry and their scenes together are a great joy to watch. Hahn, meanwhile, enjoys her best role to date, starting the film with a lovely air that eventually becomes incredibly riotous. As for the rest of the cast, Ifans is at his most playful, Forte exhibits a rarely seen natural sensitivity, and Douglas is wonderfully dry and sarcastic. Featuring Michael Shannon, Cybill Shepherd, Debi Mazar, Austin Pendleton, Lucy Punch, Jennifer Esposito, and Tatum O’Neal in cameos and/or supporting roles, the cast of She’s Funny That Way is truly one of the year’s best.
However it’s the cantankerous, self-absorbed Aniston who steals every scene and makes the movie feel even more alive than it already is. Scenes featuring the actress showing her character’s total ineptitude at her profession are almost too hilarious to handle. Lines such as, “You don’t joke in therapy,” and, “That guy is a total loon. But I cannot talk about my clients,” are priceless. There’s no question she’s got the film’s best role, and if there was any justice in Hollywood, she’d be getting an Oscar nomination.
She’s Funny That Way is a movie with great romanticism throughout, regardless of what kind of scene is going on. Fanciful from the start, this is the kind of film a person can easily slip into and never want to see end. In a time when most films tend to throw emotions at their audiences, She’s Funny That Way retains an unorthodox fairy tale-like momentum that makes you instantly hooked.
Who knows when Bogdanovich will step behind the camera next, but She’s Funny That Way should sustain the director’s fans for quite some time.
The Package
A standard behind-the-scenes featurette accompanies this release, which is noteworthy in how it reveals the project, written by Bogdanovich and then-wife Louise Stratten, was written towards the end of their marriage to help them get through the difficult time.
The two are on hand for a commentary as well. However, while Stratten proves barely verbal, Bogdanovich is full of interesting stories and details such as why he’s always liked hotels as a setting. There’s also good fun at hearing him points out all of his longtime friends/collaborators he’s cast in the film and the histories he’s shared with them. The legendary director also explains his some of his filming process and shares some key knowledge about making the perfect farce.
The Lowdown
Bogdanovich’s return to film with She’s Funny That Way is a loving tribute to screwball comedies that turns out to be one of the most hilarious and touching surprises of the year.
