Movie Review: Funny People

In Judd Apatow’s latest film, George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a comedian who has been on top for a while and has everything that he wants. Simmons gets diagnosed with a fatal blood disease and begins to rethink some things in his past. Among these things is the girl who got away, Laura. He hits a small comedy club where he meets Ira (Seth Rogen), a struggling comedian, and asks Ira to be his assistant and write him some jokes. Ups, downs, love and woe pack this comedy.

Funny People has been one of the few films that I have been really excited to see this summer. It’s always fun to watch a comedy, but this one seemed to have more going for it than your usual dick and fart joke recipe. The story really shows you what it would be like to literally have fame, fortune and everything else you want, but be completely alone. Adam Sandler sort of gives us a peak into what his life could have been if he didn’t have a good head on his shoulders or great friends and family. This is a rare review in the fact that I was so surprised by aspects of this film that I do not want to write too much because I don’t want to give too much away.

The dynamic between George and Ira is funny the whole time. Ira wants to learn as much as he can about the trade, but as George’s assistant he has to take care of menial tasks like getting him a soda and answering phone calls. All the while Ira is writing jokes for George and really learning how to face his fears of being on stage. Their friendship starts to blossom, somewhat, but George still keeps Ira at a distance with comments like “You’re my closest friend and I don’t even like you”.  You get this empty feeling from George the whole movie and he tries to fill the emptiness with other things like Ira.

The story telling has a lot going for it as well. Apatow and Sandler used to be roommates in college and we see some old video of Sandler making prank calls for fun. They use the footage as if George is looking back on his life at better times. There are a few montage scenes in the film the really show us the different sides of this stars life. We see the everyday routine of George, a look at him going through the medication process, and George dealing with his anger about the situation by drinking heavily. My main beef with the story though, is that the film is too long. There were a few moments where I was asking myself where is this going? They could have easily shaved off thirty minutes of the film and still had the same impact. However, I think that Apatow really wanted us to get a good feel of who George Simmons really is, so the character development took time.

It was nice to see Apatow’s progression as a film maker too. He has certainly given us a versatile scope on who he is as a writer and director. This is by far a more mature film than The 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, but still has those silly elements.  I would definitely recommend this film to my friends. It’s something that I would like to talk to them about and get their opinions on. And as a treat the movie is packed with cameos by other comedians playing themselves. Check out this film and let us know what you think.

Fanboyz Grade: B