Imogen Poots and Owen Wilson in She's Funny That Way
Director and legend Peter Bogdanovich adds another of his homages to the screwball comedies of the 1930s with his latest She's Funny That Way.
Bogdanovich, who hasn't turned anything out in 14 years (the last time was The Cat's Meow), adds the same simple touch that made the 1972 What's Up Doc? such a comedy treasure. It doesn't seem as if the director is out to prove anything with his latest ─ it's really not a comeback, just some light fun with a script that's been kicking around for years. Written by Bogdanovich and Louise Stratten (now his ex wife), She's Funny is light, breezy and a heckuva lot of fun for a sultry end of summer morsel.
You can imagine the overall palette of the film when you examine the names of the executive producer credits: Noah Baumbach (While We Were Young, The Squid and the Whale) and the prolifically profound Wes Anderson.
Then there's the unmistakable rhythm of screwball comedy that Bogdanovich has mastered with his actors ─ recognizable rapid-fire where characters talk, but don't really converse – usually concerned with their own dilemmas, they actually speak over one another at times. Bogdanovich said in an interview that one of his stars, Jennifer Aniston, has long speeches as a maniacally mad therapist and that she wanted to take her time. Bogdanovich had to help her speed up the tempo.
Jennifer Aniston as a mean therapist in She's Funny That Way
What the director did with Doc, albeit not as clever, he does with She's Funny. There's a retro style a la Howard Hawks (20th Century with John Barrymore and Carole Lombard comes to mind), the farce of Noel Coward, and something of a tip to silent film all wrapped up in one (same could be described for Doc, you see.) There are also a few shades of Woody Allen that are very apparent. Yet, is it that Allen, too, loves the screwball comedy? So it's hard to see where this is merely part and parcel of the genre, rather than an intentional nod to Allen's work.
This is an old-school comedy with modern situations. Arnold Albertson, who sometimes introduces himself as Derek Thomas (Owen Wilson playing his character close to the one he created for Allen in Midnight in Paris), is a hotshot Hollywood director who has just arrived in New York to direct a Broadway play. Josh (Will Forte), the Manhattan playwright who, coincidentally (and you'll see why it's coincidentally in the film) is dating a crass, angry, non HIPPA complying therapist (Aniston). Imogen Poots is an escort (shall we tell it like it is? Call girl) named Isabella, or Izzy for short, an aspiring actress doing her "part-time job" to supplement her income. Too bad Poots is saddled with doing a very thick New Yawk accent. It detracts and she seems to struggle a bit too much with it.
Arnold is a family man, but has a bit of a hooker habit. When Arnold, a.k.a. Derek, calls on Izzy for a night on the town, life changes dramatically when he offers her $30,000 to get her acting career off the ground.
Situations intersect and characters are somehow interconnected with Arnold and Izzy. Arnold's wife, Delta (absolutely fantastic Kathryn Hahn) is flying in from L.A. to join him in New York. She's an A-list actress whose starring in the play he's directing along with Seth Gilbert (perfectly caddish Rhys Ifans), another A-lister, who has just launched his own line of cologne.
Character actor Austin Pendelton is a judge with an obsession and George Morfogen is the private detective the judge has hired. Debi Mazar has a bit part as the owner of the escort service. Iliana Douglas (her talent is wasted) is a reporter talking to Izzy for a story, which merely serves as a vehicle to provide flashbacks for the story.
Cameos with a connection to Bogdanovich (keep an eye out for the woman who plays Izzy's mom and another well known director in a small part later in the film) up the ante.
Doors slam, lives intersect, secrets are revealed and eventually pandemonium ensues. There are reasons aplenty to be happy that Bogdanovich dusted off this old script. It would've been a shame to keep She's Funny That Way on a shelf.
