We Went: Bunny Chow @ SIFF Cinema

Since SIFF is kicking off its Global Lens series this weekend, we stopped in to catch South Africa's Bunny Chow, the film debut from John Barker.

We were told it wasn't "about" race and apartheid, but it does begin with some homespun moralizing about bunny chow and how Johannesburg is a melting pot, before it gets going: three comics at various stages in their careers take a road trip to a big music festival. (The three main actors are stand-up comedians in real life.) The movie's aimless, improvised style has its charm, but also its drawbacks--with its feeble, small-stakes plot, it eventually feels longer than 95 minutes.

If the movie isn't too concerned with race--though there are some racially tense encounters--it's about the misogyny of the stand-up boys' club. Full-of-himself Kags is a creepily predatory, amoral serial seducer and Joey-the-Muslim has who-wears-the-pants spats with his girlfriend. Only Dave, the dishwasher whose material is not yet comedy gold, is looking for a "relationship," and he's duped and made to look a fool.

We didn't care much for any of the characters, or find them professionally funny, but there's an unvarnished truthfulness to the movie that kept our interest. (We did laugh when Dave complains about people finding out he does stand-up and asking him to tell a joke. Kags points out that he's not a comedian yet, just a dishwasher with big dreams, and he should keep it in perspective. People should be asking him to wash a dish.) It wraps up with some high-minded hoo-hah about "knowing thyself." The actual message seems to be that even complete dicks need friends; if you're not a complete dick yourself, the movie really cheers you up on that score.