Review - She's Funny That Way

Peter Bogdanovich returns after over a decade away from the screen with a film that pays tribute to the bedroom farces of Ernst Lubitsch in the shape of the nostalgic romantic comedy, She’s Funny That Way. The use of close up focus on emotional expression and the emphasis on the individual character’s burning desires gives a conceptual insight in to Bogdanovich’s style. Several younger filmmakers, including Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, both obvious admirers of Bogdanovich have teamed up here to produce this long awaited picture. It is their prestige mixed with Bogdanovich’s reputation, and the esteem he has gleaned over the years of working in the industry that no doubt helped haul together an awe-inspiring cast including Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Imogen Poots and a large amount of estimable cameos, including Michael Shannon and Joanna Lumley.

The films intricate web of romantic complications follows sex tourist theatre director Arnold Albertson (Owen Wilson) whose devotion to hookers and habit of giving them $30,000 to help move their lives into the direction of their dreams leads to complications, especially when one of the girls, Izzy (Imogen Poots), shows up to audition for his latest stage project. This is because his latest project just so happens to be staring his own wife Delta (Kathryn Hahn) and her some times lover, lothario Seth (Rhys Ifans), along with the supporting role of a prostitute. There is a stupendous tangle of twists, concerning another of Izzy’s clients, a judge (Austin Pendleton), who happens to sees the same therapist as her, the despotic Jane (Jennifer Aniston), whose scripter boyfriend (Will Forte) has in fact written the very play that Izzy is trying out for.

Imogen Poots, who plays Izzy, the hooker-turned-Broadway sensation speaks with the thickest of Brooklyn accents that can be slightly grating on the ears at times. Yet however annoying the accent may be, Poots is startlingly funny throughout as she meanders through all the hysteria, using her charming simper like a knock out punch. Whilst curiously brash at first, Jennifer Aniston’s therapist Jane gets funnier over the course of the movie as she blissfully nips away at anyone who stands in her way, including both her patients and her boyfriend. Wilson, who has a real knack for plagiarising some of the most enamouring lines imaginable, underplays nicely throughout, as the frantic and mischievous plot spin out of his control.

The film really seems to be a labour of love for all involved and has a light-hearted Woody Allen feel to it. It is an ensemble piece set in a big time city, the kind of movie that Woody Allen has been making annually for years. The tale of “fantasy” to which the film earnestly desires is rather optimistic, yet there are some extremely funny moments. The most stand out involving a cab driver’s brilliant protest against having to sit through a squabbling couple. Peter Bogdanovich appreciates that in comedy apprehension can be on all accounts as amusing as surprise. Towards the end of the film, an ingenious hotel-room-swapping skit is made all the more fitting because of Albert’s complete perplexity over the rules of screwball comedy. He looks on baffled as his wife rings him from the hotel lobby and then ten seconds later is outside of the hotel room.

One must wonder at a world in which one of the most successful theatre directors could repeatedly depart with large amounts of money with such looseness. Yet this does tie in with the idea of fantasy as Bogdanovich attempts to blend the capers of his 1981 mixed story lined romantic comedy They All Laughed with the behind the curtains antics of Noises Off.

She’s Funny That Way seems to be slightly stuck in the past, with its old fashioned clichés about the aspiring call girl with the heart of gold and the hopeless romantic. However, it is a delightfully entertaining hour and a half long revolving door of foolish shenanigans. Bogdanovich has been successful in his attempt to make what should be a strong, sober, realistic film about chasing dreams and becoming self-made into a comedy with the lightness that isn’t exactly present in most comedies today.