Dude-on-dude action satisfies

‘Humpday’
Director: Lynn Shelton
Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore
Rating: R

REVIEW. Don’t bother asking whether a bromance about middle-class white-guy homophobia and the eroticism of male friendships can possibly be any good. Ask whether it can be extraordinary. Then answer, “yes.”

At a time when “The Hangover” and “Bruno” are sucking all the oxygen out of the room, “Humpday” quietly enters as one of the best and most original American comedies in recent memory. Rookie feature director Lynn Shelton won raves at Sundance for her story about two college buddies reunited as newly minted 30-somethings. Ben (Mark Duplass) has grown up to be an affable, happily married office drone. Andrew (Joshua Leonard) hasn’t grown up at all, having spent his 20s chasing a vagabond artist lifestyle that apparently had little to do with making art. When Andrew shows up unannounced at 2 a.m. on Ben’s doorstep, old resentments and old dreams are stirred. Then, for reasons even they can’t explain, the two men decide to make a gay porno together.

What follows is an often ridiculous, highly improvised comedy that has more to say about friendships  than a dozen other movies.