Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Starring: Imogen Poots, Owen Wilson, Kathryn Hahn, Rhys Ifans, Will Forte, Jennifer Aniston, Austin Pendleton, George Morfogen
Certificate: 12
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Special Features: Behind-the-scenes.
I’ve often hear that Peter Bogdanovich is one of those directors that actors just love to work with and after She’s Funny That Way, I thoroughly appreciate why. If truth were told, I don’t know his body of work that well but here I sensed the essence of Woody Allen that was combined with the likes of Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson. What’s particularly interesting about those latter two modern heroes is they’re executive producers on this movie and I might well guess that Bogdanovich may have more than a little influence on their unique projects and styles.
She’s Funny That Way, originally titled Squirrels to the Nuts in production, is a comedy-romp in the best sense. Quirky, intelligent, funny and occasionally a somewhat ridiculous adventure, this isn’t what you expect. I occasionally think titles don’t help a movie find its right audience and maybe this title is too close to your typical Hollywood rom-com because it deserves a bigger, more open-minded audience than some of that nonsense.
Starring the excellent Imogen Poots as call girl Izzy Patterson, she plays a romantically minded individual who believes in happy endings and all the things the movies promised her. After an escort get-together with director Arnold Albertson (Owen Wilson in absolute fine form), he tells her that if she gets out of the game, he’ll give her $30,000 to start her own life again and maybe to be the actress she wants to be. What’s eventually revealed is that Arnold hasn’t done this just once and it’s his ‘thing’ to help and hopefully inspire them towards something bigger and better. If you’re thinking (like I did) ‘Why must a man be the only person who can help a woman?’ well, for me this specific film isn’t really about that question because of its overall nature. It’s difficult to go too much into the plot details as there are numerous crossover stories that may well be on the edge of a little far-fetched but for some reason it doesn’t really matter.
Poots gives a stand-out performance for sure but Wilson is perfect for this kind of role and, as a co-star says in the Special Features, he’s an ‘old-fashioned actor with a personality’ and it also reminded me a little of his place in Woody Allen’s excellent Midnight in Paris. Playing Wilson’s wife Delta is the brilliant Kathryn Hahn who excels in this chaotic escapade. There’s also a co-starring role for Rhys Ifans who’s some form of British actor/entrepreneur with a few hints of his character in Notting Hill. Jennifer Aniston turns up as slightly power-crazed therapist Jane alongside on/off other-half Joshua, portrayed by Will Forte, who also fits his part.
Everyone involved is impressive in this huge, wild character-driven piece that has numerous layers running through its mind. Both entertaining and ridiculous, it shows us Imogen Poots is fantastic and deserves even bigger roles going ahead and that Bogdanovich is next on my list for catching up on their previous work. Oh, also, there are some brilliant cameos to look out for. Grab yourself a drink and enjoy the fun.
She’s Funny That Way is available to buy on DVD on August 10th.
