Sundance | Reactions from "Humpday" and "Brooklyn's Finest"
Audience reaction is why many distribs are here. This year more than ever has shown that many Sundance pics have already screened for buyers -- either as rough cuts, select scenes, or multi generation screeners. Today proved that that practice can have wildly different results.
Lynn Shelton's "Humpday" has a good pitch. Two straight guys decide to film themselves having sex for an art project, each one too stubborn to back down as the moment nears. Yet as screeners of the film circulated, some buyers' dreams of a indie Judd Apatow pic faded.
As star Mark Duplass told us: "We didn't want to make a farce. We wanted to feel this thing. To make something deeper." So distribs were cautious after viewing, with many agreeing that it's a funny and awkward film to watch alone. Sometimes it's both at the same time. So there was an open question on how it would play to an audience. Would the group dynamic make the awkward funny?
It did. Reports from the 12pm screening say the film played extremely well. Laughter throughout, yet the kind of laughter sparked and encouraged in a way only an audience can do. Speculation is that the film will find a home before the fest is over.
But things didn't go so well for "Brooklyn's Finest."
Antoine Fuqua's cop thriller had screened an hour of footage for buyers weeks before Sundance. The good reaction primed the buzz for Friday night's screening. Yet two buyers anxious to see it wondered if it'd be priced too high and if the film could be shortened, already feeling it was long.
Friday night's screening was packed, with many being turned away. But soon after the first hour, things began to do downhill. Many buyers left early, feeling it was way too long. Yet those that stayed felt the problems went deeper, with one exec calling the film "three cliches looking for an original plot." Another likened the intertwining stories to "a crashed 'Crash.'"
P.S. -- Early word on the "Push" screening was very positive, with the audience giving a standing ovation at the end. Yet some feel it will still be a tough sell.
Lynn Shelton's "Humpday" has a good pitch. Two straight guys decide to film themselves having sex for an art project, each one too stubborn to back down as the moment nears. Yet as screeners of the film circulated, some buyers' dreams of a indie Judd Apatow pic faded.
As star Mark Duplass told us: "We didn't want to make a farce. We wanted to feel this thing. To make something deeper." So distribs were cautious after viewing, with many agreeing that it's a funny and awkward film to watch alone. Sometimes it's both at the same time. So there was an open question on how it would play to an audience. Would the group dynamic make the awkward funny?
It did. Reports from the 12pm screening say the film played extremely well. Laughter throughout, yet the kind of laughter sparked and encouraged in a way only an audience can do. Speculation is that the film will find a home before the fest is over.
But things didn't go so well for "Brooklyn's Finest."
Antoine Fuqua's cop thriller had screened an hour of footage for buyers weeks before Sundance. The good reaction primed the buzz for Friday night's screening. Yet two buyers anxious to see it wondered if it'd be priced too high and if the film could be shortened, already feeling it was long.
Friday night's screening was packed, with many being turned away. But soon after the first hour, things began to do downhill. Many buyers left early, feeling it was way too long. Yet those that stayed felt the problems went deeper, with one exec calling the film "three cliches looking for an original plot." Another likened the intertwining stories to "a crashed 'Crash.'"
P.S. -- Early word on the "Push" screening was very positive, with the audience giving a standing ovation at the end. Yet some feel it will still be a tough sell.
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
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