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Thoughts on ‘Happy Birthday Harris Malden’
At the beginning of “Happy Birthday Harris Malden,” it is clear that something is amiss. There is a wild card at hand. With people running up and down stairs and between houses to find birthday boy Harris Malden (Nick Gregorio), we get the urgent, and somewhat comic, sense that there is a boy on the loose. Someone must be caught before he does damage to someone, something or himself.
As we finally track down this mysterious character, we learn that he is not a child, but a man. A good looking, well dressed, seemingly normal, if not a bit neurotic, man … then we see the mustache. Harris Malden wears a drawn-on mustache (that is actually foam latex, according to the credits later). As for why, we are not altogether certain. But it seems wacky and whimsical and certainly sets the tone for the first feature length film from the collective known as Sweaty Robot.
Leading the charge to corral Harris is neighbor and childhood friend Paul Levine (Eric Levy), who is dealing with more drama than his infantilized neighbor … he’s also got a hot and bothered girlfriend, Susan (Brigitte Hagerman), at work who wants to move in with him.
When Paul’s girlfriend surprisingly shows up at the house where he lives with his grandmother, we finally get the big reveal. As an aggravated Paul explains to the uninvited Susan, that Harris lost his father and suffered serious burning on his 5th birthday. After the tragedy, Harris’s mother painted a mustache on the child to keep him from having to see the burn scar above his lip, a physical reminder of the loss of his father. Ever since that time, Harris’s friends and neighbors have sheltered him from the outside world, never allowing him to enter the city center and never letting him know that he looks ridiculous with his self-applied facial hair.
Granted, the entire conceit his absolutely ridiculous, but it sets up a sweet and at times hilarious story of friendship and the lengths to which we go to protect our loved ones. Amidst the mania surrounding Harris’s condition, his younger brother attempts to break free from his mundane life and strike out on his own, while Paul battles with whether he should stay with his loving and hilarious grandmother or finally grow up and move in with his grandmother.
The pace can be a bit frantic at times, due in large part to zooming cameras and harried tracking shots, but the absurdity of the premise and low-budget feel is tempered by a warm heart. Levine’s acting leaves quite a bit to be desired, something reminiscent of early Kevin Smith movies, but his quick give and take with Hagerman, a striking visual presence part Mira Sorvino and part Jenna Fischer, is clever screwball at its indie best.
A thought kept nagging at me slightly throughout. Something about the film seemed very familiar. It actually felt a lot like a SXSW film to me, but I didn’t even really understand why or exactly what that meant. Then it hit me. “Happy Birthday Harris Malden” is a lot like mumblecore (the “genre” launched thanks in large part to SXSW) with more whimsy and less ennui. It came as no surprise then, that during the Q&A, some of the guys from Sweaty Robot told the audience that former SXSW Film Director Matt Dentler, in his new role at Cinetic, has reached an agreement to just represent the filmmakers’ rights in the digital arena. Reached in New York, Dentler said of the film, “I think it’s a good film, and a funny film. And comedies work well in the digital space, plus the guys behind the film are very well versed in this new media space.” Dentler, who originally saw the film at the Cinevegas Film Festival in June, would not elaborate on plans for distribution but said folks could look for the film online by the end of the year.
The Q&A was actually funnier than the movie itself, with the guys sharing some of their thoughts on making the movie, trying to market it, and the risks and rewards of independent film. It is obvious that there is a bit of a mutual appreciation party going on amongst the Sweaty Robot collective, but they have reason to feel a bit giddy. They’ve made a strong feature that I think should presage greater things in the future, that is if anyone can figure out the future of independent film.
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