Directed by: Judd Apatow
Starring: Seth Rogan, Leslie Mann, Adam Sandler, Eric Bana
Other Actors of Note: Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, RZA, Aziz Ansanri
Plot: When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship cause him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act. Taken from www.imdb.com.
I have never felt more lukewarm about a popular director than I have about Judd Apatow. "The 40 Year Old Virgin" was okay but it was two different movies that happened to be playing at the same time and I only liked one of them. And "Knocked Up" was a by-the-book chick flick that just happened to feature dick jokes. In fact I wouldn't have even seen "Funny People" if not for one factor:
Adam Sandler. Well, that and the fact that "District 9" wasn't out yet. I've been in support of Adam Sandler as an actor for a while. He proved in "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Reign Over Me" that he's far more than just funny voices and slapstick.
In "Funny People" our protagonist-that-doesn't-do-much-of-anything is Ira Wright (Seth Rogan having lost all the weight he put on for "Observe and Report") an amateur stand-up comedian struggling with the career he wants to pursue. He's hired by famous Comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler in a near autobiographical role) who has just found out he's dying of a rare form of cancer. Ira writes jokes for George and sees to other things he needs as he readies himself for his eventual death. But soon George finds out that he's been cured and tries to get back his ex-girlfriend (Leslie Mann) from her husband (Eric Bana) and have a second chance at life.
Seth Rogan, as I said above, doesn't do a whole lot of anything during this movie. The film is largely about George and Ira really serves as an avatar for the audience as we react to what's happening in much the same manner as he does. It's a paint-by-numbers performance from Rogan, pretty much going against all the good things I said about him in "Observe and Report" (fucker)
Adam Sandler for the third time in his career has proven he's a more than capable actor. As I said above he practically plays himself which is supplemented by footage from earlier in his career used on a couple of instances in the film. But there's a point in the middle of the film where it stops being about Adam Sandler and George Simmons becomes his own character. He goes from the hero of the movie to the villain almost instantly and we're left with Ira who has done basically nothing for 40 minutes to step in as the leading man.
"Funny People" is an interesting, if albeit schizophrenic, narrative. For the life of me I don't think I can recall a single movie that dealt with stand-up comedians. It says a lot of things about the industry and even has it's own pseudo Dane Cook comedian named Randy (played by "Human Giant's" Aziz Ansari) and in some ways it's Ira's world that's far more interesting. I personally would have watched a movie about just that.
The second tier of the story is George and his life as a major comedy star. It's obvious there's a lot of self-loathing going on there and as per usual money didn't buy happiness and blah blah cliche blahdy blah. I know I sound less than enthused but this is the second most interesting part of the movie.
Then there's the third tier of George trying to get back with his ex-fiance Laura who is married with children to an Australian businessman named Clarke. This comes across as a movie within the movie and somehow distracts from the movie whilst being an integral part of it. Though this part too is still entertaining. Just less, entertaining than before.
What I really liked about these 3 tiers is that none of them are cliche. In a normal movie we would've seen Rogen rise through the comedy ranks and be approaching George's level of success by the end but in reality he's only slightly above where he started.
In a normal movie George Simmons would've had a relapse, remarried Laura, and then died of cancer in a divine twist of irony or some such bullshit like that. Fortunately none of those things happen.
In a normal movie Clarke would've been an irredeemable asshole instead of the nice relatively decent, if distant, guy.
"Funny People" is at it's core is a movie about life, success, and love. That's the best way I can possibly describe it. It's funny, it's deep, and it's thought provoking. For what it is it's a very good movie and has served to change my mind about Judd Apatow.
I give "Funny People" a 4 out of 5. It's a pretty great movie that's really fucking hard to describe. I don't know if it's a buy, but it's definitely a watch.
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