Movie Review – Funny People

This 2009 dramatic comedy is written and directed by Judd Apatow (he of 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up fame) and stars Adam Sandler as self-involved comedic movie star George Simmons, who finds out one day that he has an incurable blood disorder. Looking to leave some sort of legacy, he takes on a young up and coming standup comedian named Ira (played by Seth Rogen). Along the way the two grow closer, and just when Simmons has finally accepted he’s going to die, he learns that he’s suddenly, possibly, been cured. Bolden by a new lease on life he seeks out the one girl that got away. Just one problem, she’s married if unhappy. Can people change, or is life just one long farce of a comedy?

The Judd Apatow name has become synonymous with a new style of comedy. While Apatow has only directed 3 films including Funny People, he has written and produced countless films such as Anchorman, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express- each movie carrying a distinct comedic style known as Apatow comedy. The stories all have similar themes, man children trying to grow up, hot chicks liking geeky guys, hard-core bromance; essentially coming of age stories for adults. This comedic touch is so distinct that I find myself saying, “that’s just like an Apatow film” for films he doesn’t even produce, write or direct, such as Role Models or I Love You Man. Apatow took what Kevin Smith started in Clerks and made it more mainstream, more assessable. My love for Kevin Smith leads me to sadly shake my head.

So the Apatow style is the new age of comedy and well, if you dislike it, you’re probably in for another decade of pain. But I love the style- it’s still fresh, funny and brilliant. Apatow’s writing is always some of the best you’ll ever get in comedies; he knows how to touch both our hearts and our funny bones. What I’m trying to get at is that there’s always a big clamor for a new Apatow movie, people waiting on long lines in the rain just to see them. So the question is does Funny People live up to the Apatow legacy? Honestly, like this movie, the answer is a conundrum.

First thing you’ll notice about this movie is its 146 minutes running time, too damn long for a comedy, and as much as I hate to admit it, you feel its length. Seriously, you feel every minute. There are parts where things just drag, but we’ll get to those in a bit. To best talk about this movie, you have to split it into two parts, because the film is really two parts, like a movie and its sequel attached to it- very Baz Luhrmann’s Australia-ish. The first part of Funny People is genuine comedy gold, its Apatow genius working in its highest form. Essentially, it’s a series of comedic vignettes, moments where it feels all ad-libbed, hard hitting and raunchy. Seth Rogen is really good in this movie. He’s funny as hell in the geeky loser charming kind of way, and he hits all the right marks with his comedy, reminding you of his turn in Knocked Up. Rogen’s character Ira lives with two roommates played by Jonah Hill (who Sandler refers to as a Triple X large version of Rogen) and Jason Schwartzman, an actor who got lucky finding a role in a really terrible tv comedy called Yo! Teach.

However, two things about the first half of the movie: first, I wish there was more Jonah Hill since he’s barely in it and the scenes he is in are really funny, and secondly, I don’t get Schwartzman’s character Mark Jackson, at all. I understand he’s on a tv comedy, but he’s really poorly fleshed out, and every time he speaks I felt the comedy just die, as I did a little bit inside. I think he’s a great comedic actor, I love me some Rushmore; he’s just not ever good here. But anyway, yeah, the first half is like watching a really funny group of comedians hang out and crack jokes.

Then comes the second part of the movie, right when Sandler’s Simmons finds out he may no longer be sick. The tone shifts moving from a straight forward comedy to a really sad indie drama with some light comedic elements. This is the part where I had the major problems with this film. Not only does the tone shift so drastically that you’ll be wondering if you’re watching the same movie but the drama really drags as Simmons tries to put right his past mistakes and find his lost love. While Apatow has always been really good injecting dramatic moments into his comedies, to have a whole second half dedicated to pure drama really hurts because it seems as if Apatow and the characters are unsure where to take the film, how far into the depths of hell before we can see light again, before we can laugh again.

So yeah, Simmons searches and finds his lost love Laura played by Apatow staple and wife, Leslie Mann, and there always appears to be a distance between Laura and Simmons, and I don’t know if it’s because of the actors or part of the script, but it all feels a bit awkward, very funny at times but awkward, unsure.  And so we viewers along with the film are unsure where things are going and well, the film really really starts to drag.

There are some great highpoints for this movie though. The film is about stand-up comedians, so there’s so many great jokes and so many guest stars such as Dave Attel, Norm McDonald, Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill, Sarah Silverman, Aziz Ansari, even RZA and Eminem’s in it. It’s like a film version of Entourage with Apatow making a film so he can hang out with all his buddies. However my favorite casting is Eric Bana who plays Laura’s husband. Predominantly known as a dramatic actor, he’s great here as the douche Australian husband, and for once we get to hear Bana speak with his native Aussie accent- it’s pretty damn thick. But he’s funny as hell and evidently Apatow was a big fan of Bana’s sketch comedy work in Australia. Bana as a sketch comedy artist, will wonders never cease.

But what about the main actor of this film, Adam Sandler, you may be asking? Fair warning, if you hate Sandler hamming it up, repeating the same lines of dialogue in his Sandler high voice that tries to sound like a woman, and making the same stupid Adam Sandler faces like he always does, you’re probably going to hate this movie. I mean he’s playing a parody of himself, and yet even though I’m a huge fan of his, his shtick grew really grating on me at times. Talking about Sandler, his character George Simmons is a really big ass of a jerk, uncaring, unfeeling, only looking out for himself, willing to screw over friends and break up families. Now we all know he has to learn a lesson at the end right? I mean that’s how these movies work, but you can’t cheer or root for him at all. He sucks, and I really felt that by having such an ass of character as your lead, audiences will feel things dragging because they have no one to latch onto.

The best way I can sum up Funny People is confusing, like eating a ham and cheese sandwich and getting to the second half only to find eggplant. It’s like, “what the hell I didn’t ask for any vegetables!” The dialogue is expertly written and performed, but I never thought the film was successful in working for the pain, working for the emotion, which is odd for an Apatow film. So yeah I’m torn, the first half is one of the best comedies of the year, the second half a weepy indie snoozefest that I don’t think entirely works as a drama or comedy. Since I’m in the middle on this, I give this a “dvd/matinee” rating. I think if you watch this you’ll walk away with a smile, albeit a confused smile on your face.

- things to note: my rating scale works like this- due to how tight money is these days for many people, I wanted to create a rating system that was representative of the times. The highest rating is, “bring your lunch from home because you do not want to miss it.” This is given to movies that I feel are must see’s, even if you have to brown bag it for lunch everyday just to save up the money. The next rating is, “dvd/matinee.” This is given to films that I feel are still a watch, but you can wait until they get released on dvd or see it for the price a cheap matinee. The last rating is, “sneak out/I want my money back.” This is given to those dreadful movies where I feel you should sneak out of the movie if you paid before wasting 2 hours of your life and demand money back from the theater for showing such trite.