Funny People

Let's get something out of the way before I get into discussing anything else: it's not exactly fair to compare FUNNY PEOPLE to either THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN or KNOCKED UP. While all three films were helmed by the same director, and while they feature a lot of the same actors, you'd really have to be blind not to notice that Judd Apatow is trying a different approach with FUNNY PEOPLE. While the comedy is still very much present, this is more of a dramatic piece, whereas Apatow's two former films were more comedic, with the dramatic elements staying more in the background. I'm issuing this as a warning to those who are expecting FUNNY PEOPLE to make them constantly laugh their asses off with Apatow's signature mixture of sweet and raunchy humor: you'll be rewarded, for the MOST part, but prepare for something a little deeper as well. FUNNY PEOPLE is more my kind of movie than Apatow's prior two cinematic efforts, because it is a character study, and a very good one at that, despite the fact that it stumbles a little bit during its last act. Apatow is aiming for greatness, which he doesn't necessarily achieve here, but in my mind, I think it's best to think of this film as transitional - now that he's done this, there's no doubt that he'll continue refining his craft and moving into deeper thematic waters in future films, and that's very much something to look forward to.

The trailer would lead you to believe that FUNNY PEOPLE is about a comedian who is diagnosed with a terminal disease, eventually discovers he's not dying, and then as a result of this, he starts relishing life a lot more and becomes a better person. Thankfully, that's not what happens here, and thank God that Apatow can resist succumbing to conventionality (as opposed to so many other filmmakers). FUNNY PEOPLE is more grounded in reality than the trailer would have you believe, because actually, even after George Simmons (Adam Sandler) discovers that he's not really sick, he continues making a lot of the same mistakes he made earlier in his life. The best evidence of this is the fact that, during the trailer, there's a point at which we hear George saying "I feel like I'm finally in the moment"... yet those words are never actually said by him during the film. Sure, it's evident that George learns from the whole experience, but he's still the same person, which makes FAR more sense. If George went through a 180-degree transformation during the film, FUNNY PEOPLE would be every bit as blah and unrealistic as the majority of comedies that get tossed in multiplexes nowadays, but it's far from that.

What I've been saying about the film's largely serious undertones may turn off those who are looking to laugh, but rest assured that there are some hilarious moments to be found in FUNNY PEOPLE that make the title epithet feel like an understatement. The average comedy shows you all of its funny moments in the trailer (usually because those are the only funny moments it has), but the opposite happens here, particularly with the scenes involving George's interactions with the "creepy accent" doctor - we see PARTS of this in the trailer, but most of the truly uproarious parts of it are reserved for the actual film. There's an incredibly funny set of scenes involving George's visit with his assistant Ira (Seth Rogen) to a sort of convention of MySpace employees, in which many a truth is spoken in jest about people's obsession with their number of "online friends," and there's a particularly great line involving a comparison between MySpace and Craigslist. However, the film's most solid success in the comedic department comes with the sudden spurt of cameos that we get during a scene in which George goes to a bar after discovering he's no longer sick. I'll try to keep myself from spoiling as much as possible, but it's hard to give props to this particular scene without doing so: there's an uproariously funny moment that intercuts between a conversation between George and rapper Eminem and a conversation between Ira and Ray Romano. Eminem's dead-pan line delivery is brilliant, and when the scene ends with Ira saying "I thought everybody loved you!" I nearly fell off my chair. This intercutting between the two conversations, combined with the way the two are melded to make for an awesome punchline, is perfect further evidence of the already-known fact that Apatow is a master of comedic timing.

As I explained, though, the drama takes precedence in FUNNY PEOPLE, which may or may not disappoint fans of the director's earlier work. The most admirable aspect here is the fact that Apatow generally avoids conventionality in the dramatic elements just as much as he does in the comedic elements. George's "girl who got away" Laura (Leslie Mann) starts sort of re-connecting with him as soon as she finds out he's sick, and once George gets the news that he's not dying, he's apprehensive about saying this to her, as he fears that she'll just go back to being mad at him. Therefore, he asks his assistant Ira to give her the news, and at this point, I was watching with trepidation, fearing that the movie would succumb to the cliche and have the news literally change Laura's mindset completely. Fortunately, Apatow's cinematic world is too grounded in authenticity to let that happen. The event of George thinking he was going to die was simply a way to ease her back to him, so that they could reminisce about their past in some truly wonderful scenes that are strewn with a deep feeling of nostalgia. Unfortunately for George, Laura is married with two kids, so getting back to her won't necessarily be that easy, and that struggle is what essentially comprises the film's final act.

This flaw is more minor than some critics are making it out to be, but yes, FUNNY PEOPLE is a little too long, and the tone is just a wee-bit awkward during the final scenes. There are two moments in particular that feel forced. The first involves the viewing of a video of one of Laura's daughters performing a song from the musical CATS - this scene (in particular, George's demeanor during it) is used in order to have Laura supposedly have a realization, but it simply doesn't feel as genuine as most of the other dramatic moments in the film. The other scene that was handled poorly involves a character arriving at a precise area of an airport at an all-too-specific point in time, and while this is the only contrivance in the film, it still sticks out, and I can't help but feel like Apatow could've found a better way to handle this thread of the plot. I don't have a problem with films being too long as long as they need to be, but FUNNY PEOPLE didn't really need to be as long as it is - the great ideas that it gets across could've been transmitted just as effectively if it had been half an hour shorter. However, these are minor nitpicks that still don't stop everything else from making this a very good film.

Adam Sandler and Leslie Mann are absolutely terrific in FUNNY PEOPLE, and if the Academy were kinder to comedies, these two would at least be in contention. I thought this would be impossible, but I totally FORGOT about the generally stupid and silly characters he's played in so many of the duds he's been in. The ONLY time I was reminded of it was when a particularly amusing line was spoken by a character, and it's a line that establishes a nice parallel between Sandler's character George and the actual actor: "He's really funny. I don't know why his movies aren't." Sandler's work is amazing because he manages to be believable as the uber famous comedian he plays (which one expects wasn't hard to do), but he also manages to be great during George's moments of vulnerability. Not since PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE has he given such an effective performance. One of my (minor) complaints about KNOCKED UP was that Leslie Mann was so good in it that I kind of wished we got even more from her in that movie, and thank God that she has such a meaty role in FUNNY PEOPLE because, like Sandler, she's predictably good in the funny sequences, but she's also terrific in the dramatic moments. She has some tough serious scenes to deal with, and she never hits a false note (one scene in particular during which she cries is absolutely heart-breaking).

The supporting department is solid as well. Many have complained that somehow Seth Rogen's significant weight loss has made him less funny, which I don't really agree with, though (of course) Apatow milks this perception in the film, with two instances of people telling him he's less funny now that he's skinny (when Jonah Hill says "Go lose some more weight, you look weird," I laughed incredibly hard). Jonah Hill is well-cast because, as we know, he's most effective at being funny whenever he plays characters who get easily flustered and start yelling and complaining all over the place. One of the biggest surprises, though, was Jason Schwartzman, whom I've never been too impressed with (he's given largely bland performances in the past), and here, he does a fantastic job as an actor who stars in a crappy sitcom, yet is totally self-indulgent in flaunting his fame - the most brilliant aspect of his performance is the fact that he doesn't become cookie-cutter annoying or a villain of the film per se, and instead, we sense that there are a probably a lot of insecurities under all the boasting.

I said at the start of this review that it wasn't fair to compare this to Apatow's prior efforts, but if it's necessary to do it, then I'll say that KNOCKED UP has been the best he's directed so far because aside from being his most effective combination of sweet and raunchy humor, it also had a lot of deep, intelligent insight on relationships. But FUNNY PEOPLE is still wonderful, and I feel that it's really great that Apatow is moving towards more profound fare, and even though he's doing that, I don't believe he'll ever lose his expert handle on comedy. While the film drags unnecessarily during its final reels, what comes before that is more than enough to make up for it, as it is a delightfully well-crafted blend of gut-bustingly funny and emotionally affecting scenes.

7/10