Judd Apatow's Funny People
A Review of the New Movie from the Writer/Director of Knocked Up
Sep 9, 2009
Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen are a director and actor combo known for toilet humor movies with a touch of drama like 2007's Knocked Up. In their latest outing, Funny People, they team up with another veteran of toilet humor comedy, Adam Sandler, for a movie about life, death, and the arc of a comedian's career.
The Plot of Funny People
Rogen plays Ira Wright, a comic just getting started in his career, who encounters George Simmons, played by Sandler, a comedian at the top of his career who has just learned he may be dying of cancer. Their chance meeting in a comedy club, where George watches Ira's act, leads to George hiring Ira to be his assistant and writer. Between writing stand-up bits and running errands, Ira slowly finds himself drawn into helping George win back his ex-girlfriend Laura, played by Leslie Mann, who is now married to another man, Eric Bana's Clarke. There is also a subplot involving Ira's roommates played by Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill, as the three vie for the affections of an up and coming female comic played by Aubrey Plaza.
The Good, the Bad, and the Funny People
Funny People provides an interesting glimpse behind the scenes into the lives of fictional comedians at various stages of their careers, from new and unknown like Ira, to successful and famous like George, and the various levels in between. The scenes in the comedy clubs where each of the actors do portions of stand-up routines are the funniest parts of the movie, but are few and scattered throughout. Outside the comedy club, the more serious scenes of George and Ira's lives, and their developing friendship, tend to drag on at points, and yet subplots like the pursuit of the female comic by Ira and his roommates feels like they are barely touched on, or rushed through to be wrapped up in time for the ending.
Eric Bana Steals the Spotlight in Funny People
Where the more serious scenes involving George's attempts to win back Laura win, is where Eric Bana is involved. Bana steals every scene he is in as Laura's over the top Australian husband Clarke. In scenes meant to mix drama and comedy, Bana proves to be the most adept at both, by turns serious and completely hilarious; while, removed from the spotlight of the comedy club, Rogen and Sandler's characters appear dull and flat by comparison.
Funny People, Not Funny Script
Funny People features interesting characters, played by good actors, but the script itself lacked unity and the story felt like it dragged in the middle until the last twenty minutes when there is a mad rush to tie up all the loose storylines before the end. Another draft of the script, or a judicious editing might have helped speed the movie up and keep it from dragging, but overall it felt like an overambitious project that didn't quite live up to it's potential.
Funny People is a Universal Pictures release, starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, Rated R for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality.
