She's Funny That Way

She’s Funny That Way

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Edward Shearmur
Cinematography Yaron Orbach
Edited by
Production
companies
  • Lagniappe Films
  • Venture Forth
  • Three Point Capital
  • Holly Wiersma Productions
Distributed by Lionsgate Premiere
Release dates
  • August 29, 2014 (2014-08-29) (Venice)
  • August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21)
Running time
 94 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $4.9 million [2]

She’s Funny That Way is a 2014 American screwball comedy film[3][4] directed by Peter Bogdanovich and co-written with Louise Stratten. The film stars Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Will Forte, Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Aniston.

The film had a limited release in the United States and was released through video on demand on August 21, 2015 by Lionsgate Premiere.[4][5]

Plot

Call girl/escort-turned-Broadway-thespian Isabella/Izzy/Glowstick (Imogen Poots) struggles with the “recurring intersection between these two facets of her life”. Broadway director Arnold Albertson alias “Derek” (Owen Wilson) pays for her escort services (and did for others), despite being married to Delta Simmons (Kathryn Hahn), the star of his new play A Grecian Evening. The playwright Josh (Will Forte) falls for her as well, despite the fact that he’s already dating her therapist Jane Claremont (Jennifer Aniston), whose alcoholic psychotherapist mother (Joanna Lumley), is in rehab in Tuscany for six months, leaving all her patients to her daughter. Another actor in the play Seth Gilbert (Rhys Ifans) has been in love with her for years. The intertwined relations of all roles lead to misunderstandings and surprises.

Cast


Cameos

Production

Development

She’s Funny That Way originated from a script written by director Peter Bogdanovich and ex-wife Louise Stratten around 1999 and 2000. Bogdanovich and Stratten, who were in financial distress at the time trying to buy back They All Laughed (1981), decided to write a comedy to uplift their spirits. While writing the script, Bogdanovich was inspired by an incident in Singapore during the time he was filming Saint Jack in 1978, where he was able to talk to many prostitutes after hiring them for his film. He would give them more money than their salary for them to leave the prostitution business. The script was originally titled Squirrels to the Nuts, but due to many people misinterpreting it as a children’s film, Bogdanovich changed it to She’s Funny That Way.[3] (‘Squirrels to the Nuts’ is a line used frequently in the film, lifted from the 1946 film Cluny Brown). Bogdanovich originally wrote the role of Arnold Albertson for John Ritter, but due to his death, he shelved the project. Bogdanovich later became friends with Owen Wilson, introduced to him by Wes Anderson, and he decided to change aspects of the character of Albertson: all of the physical gags intended for Ritter were changed to verbal jokes to suit Wilson.[3] In 2010, protégés of Bogdanovich – Anderson and Noah Baumbach – offered their backing to get the film made, agreeing to serve as executive producers.[11]

Casting

When the script was originally written, Bogdanovich envisioned John Ritter, Cybill Shepherd and co-writer Louise Stratten in the lead roles.[12] In 2012, when the film was officially announced, Wilson, Brie Larson, and Olivia Wilde were signed on in lead roles. Larson was to play the call girl-turned-ingenue actress and Wilde would play the role of her therapist. Jason Schwartzman was also rumored to be in negotiations to play Wilde’s playwright boyfriend. Due to production delays, Wilson is the only actor to remain with the project.[13] In February 2013, it was announced that Jennifer Aniston would replace Wilde in the role of the therapist, the same time Kathryn Hahn, Cybill Shepherd, and Eugene Levy were announced as cast members.[14] Aniston was initially offered the part of Delta Simmons, Arnold Albertson’s wife, but she favored the role of the therapist, in which she was cast.[3] Despite the commencement of filming on July 11, 2013, Imogen Poots[15] and Richard Lewis[16] were announced for roles of the ingenue and her father on July 22, with Will Forte taking the role of a playwright two days later.[17] The same week, the casting of Joanna Lumley,[6] Debi Mazar,[6] Rhys Ifans,[18] Lucy Punch,[18] Ahna O’Reilly,[18] and Jake Hoffman[18] was set.

Filming

Principal photography lasted 29 days,[3] commencing on July 11, 2013 in New York City.[19]

Music

On July 15, 2014, Edward Shearmur was hired to score the music for the film, replacing Stephen Endelman, who had already recorded music for the film by the time of the announcement.[20][21]

Release

On August 29, 2014, She’s Funny That Way premiered at the Venice Film Festival.[22] On September 12, it was bought by Clarius Entertainment at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[23] A screening at the Tokyo International Film Festival was scheduled for the end of October.[24] In January 2015, the film was screened to the Palm Springs International Film Festival.[25]

The film was originally scheduled for a May 1, 2015 release in theaters nationwide, but Clarius Entertainment pulled the film from the schedule.[26] However, on June 2, 2015, Lionsgate Premiere acquired the film after Clarius Entertainment dropped the film for unknown reasons.[27] The film was released on August 21, 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 39%, based on reviews from 84 critics, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site’s critical consensus states: “She’s Funny That Way is an affectionate, talent-filled throwback to screwball comedies of old—which makes it even more frustrating that the laughs are disappointingly few and far between.”[28] Metacritic gives the film a score of 45%, based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  2. ↑ "She's Funny That Way (2015)". TheNumbers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hemphill, Jim (17 August 2015). "Playing All the Parts: Peter Bogdanovich on "She's Funny That Way"". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 Labrecque, Jeff (24 July 2015). "Peter Bogdanovich talks his new screwball comedy and his plans to finish Orson Welles' lost, last movie". EW.com. Entertainment Weekly Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Kit, Borys (2 June 2015). "Owen Wilson-Jennifer Aniston Comedy 'She's Funny That Way' Nabbed by Lionsgate Premiere (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Tatum O'Neal Reteams With 'Paper Moon' Director Peter Bogdanovich for Showbiz Comedy (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  7. ↑ PageSix.com Staff (2013-07-29). "Carter joins Aniston cast | Page Six". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  8. ↑ "She's Funny That Way: Bogdanovich's screwball dud of a comeback". The Times.
  9. ↑ Roger Friedman. "Exclusive: Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson Star in Peter Bogdanovich's LOL Comeback Comedy". Showbiz411.
  10. ↑ "Interview: 'Afternoon Delight' Star Kathryn Hahn Talks Motherhood, Unhinged Silver Lake Book Clubs & Peter Bogdanovich's 'Squirrel To The Nuts'|The Playlist". Blogs.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  11. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (29 October 2010). "Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach To Produce New Film By Peter Bogdanovich 'Squirrel To The Nuts'". The Playlist. Indiewire.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  12. ↑ Grigg-Spall, Holly (August 20, 2015). "She's Funny That Way: Peter Bogdanovich". Creative Screenwriting. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (24 May 2012). "Owen Wilson, Olivia Wilde & Brie Larson To Star In Peter Bogdanovich's 'Squirrel To The Nuts' Produced By Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach". The Playlist. Indiewire.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Davis, Edward (10 February 2013). "Jennifer Aniston, Eugene Levy & Kathryn Hahn Join Peter Bogdanovich's 'She's Funny That Way' With Owen Wilson". The Playlist. Indiewire.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (22 July 2013). "Imogen Poots Replaces Brie Larson as Star of Wes Anderson-Produced Movie (Exclusive)". TheWrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Ford, Rebecca (22 July 2013). "Richard Lewis Joins 'Squirrels to the Nuts'". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  17. ↑ Kit, Borys (24 July 2013). "Will Forte Joins Peter Bogdanovich's 'Squirrels to the Nuts' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Kit, Borys (25 July 2013). "Rhys Ifans, Lucy Punch Board Peter Bogdanovich's 'Squirrels to the Nuts' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "'Squirrels to the Nuts', starring Jennifer Aniston, begins filming in NYC". onlocationvacations.com. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Edward Shearmur to Score Peter Bogdanovich's 'Squirrels to the Nuts'". Film Music Reporter. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  21. ↑ filmmusicreporter (30 April 2014). "Stephen Endelman Scoring Peter Bogdanovich's 'Squirrels to the Nuts'". Film Music Reporter. Film Music Reporter. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  22. ↑ "La Biennale di Venezia – Page not found". labiennale.org.
  23. ↑ Ramin Setoodeh (September 14, 2014). "Toronto: Jennifer Aniston's 'She's Funny That Way' Nears $4 Million Deal With Clarius Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  24. ↑ "27th Tokyo International Film Festival – She's Funny That Way". tiff-jp.net.
  25. ↑ "New James Franco, Jennifer Aniston Films to Be Showcased at Palm Springs Film Festival". TheWrap.
  26. ↑ "Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson Comedy 'She's Funny That Way' Shifts Release Date". TheWrap.
  27. ↑ "Owen Wilson Jennifer Aniston Comedy Shes Funny That Way Nabbed By Lionsgate Premiere Exclusive". awardchannel.com.
  28. ↑ "She's Funny That Way (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  29. ↑ "She's Funny That Way Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
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