Getting the hump

A film about two lifelong friends having sex for a porno flick? Hmmm. But don’t rush to judgement – there’s much more here than archetypal crudity.

If the thought of two men having sex appeals to you, fair enough, and there are plenty of other sites to cater for your needs.

However, writer-director Lynn Shelton (My Effortless Brilliance (2008)) has managed to take an American Pie/Road Trip/The 40-Year-Old Virgin concept and delivers, with this character-driven indie flick that in fact offers a great deal more than its marketing might suggest.

Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard) were friends for a very long time in their youth, but the years and their differing life choices kept them apart later on. Ben opted for the career, love and marriage route, while Andrew has taken the path less walked and travelled the world. But an early-morning wake-up house call chez Ben from Andrew (he needs a place to sleep and wants to catch up) leads to both men taking stock of themselves and their choices – and the way they believe they appear in others’ eyes. Via contrivances that I won’t go into here for fear of spoiling the fun, this self-analysis ultimately brings about the (entirely heterosexual) pair’s decision to make a gay porno film for the local porn festival, ‘Humpfest’.

Please, no, bear with me…what actually makes the film work is how both characters gradually move away from the preconceived notions that they have of themselves as much as we, as an audience, have of them too.

The up-tight/sensible versus free spirited/irresponsible archetypes quickly (and skillfully) move into a reality that is in fact far more complex, as both Ben and Andrew are frustrated by each other’s assumptions, as well as those of the world at large.

The ensuing angst concerning whether they will get to know each other in the biblical sense brings more than a few excellent comic set-pieces, and Alycia Delmore is excellent as Ben’s wife, who is pivotal in the alternately painful and hilarious debate over whether, and why, these men would ‘knock on each other’s doors’.

Different and, quite frankly, daring. You’ll never know unless you give it a try, right?

94 mins.