Funny Ha Ha

Marnie is 23 and drifts through Andrew Bujalksi’s critically acclaimed debut film, in search of romance and employment. The film’s conversations sound improvised and the narrative rhythms appear loose and ambling as it paints a deft group portrait of recent college graduates, Marnie’s friends, co-workers and would be lovers. But this scruffiness is deceptive, as the film has both a subtle, delicate shape and a point. By the end of the film, Bujalski proves to be one of America’s most acute and intelligent young dramatists, utilising 16mm film to probe and reveal the curious facts and stubborn puzzles of contemporary life.