Directed by: Judd Apatow
Written By: Judd Apatow
Cast: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, & Leslie Mann
Runtime: 146 min
Rating: R
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Billed as a more adult and mature-themed comedy from Judd Apatow, the dick-obsessed writer and director of Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Funny People seeks to delve into the lives of its characters in a way that is perhaps more intimate than in typical comedies. What it finds in these characters, especially the lead, George Simmons, played by Adam Sandler, are people haunted by their inability to connect with other people. But what starts out as a fairly innocuous and surprisingly moving story, quickly transforms into an episodic smorgasbord of cameos, Hollywood in-jokes, dull pacing, and most disappointingly, a last third that parallels the gimmicky sitcom shtick more appropriate to episodes of “Everybody Loves Raymond” (Ray Romano makes a cameo) and “Friends.” In the case of those sitcoms, however, they are generally funnier than Funny People. For a film that spends so much time with comedians, it’s amazing how unfunny these people turn out to be. Seth Rogen plays Ira Wright, a struggling comedian who spends his days working in a deli and his nights touring the Los Angeles comedy club scene, hoping to make it big. It’s no wonder he’s struggling, considering that all his jokes, or “bits,” are taken from the outtakes of Meatballs and/or Porky’s. That he’s struggling and seems genuinely sympathetic is one of the only reasons that Ira is a likable character – and a far cry from the abomination that was his character in Observe and Report. Rogen plays Ira, as he does his best Apatow creations, as a lovable oaf who genuinely means well. His break comes when George hires him as his assistant and writer. From this moment forward, Apatow neglects conflict – one of the essential ingredients to good drama and comedy – and spends most of the film’s next two hours obsessed with his own material. Scenes become repetitive and dull, suggesting Apatow is disinterested in moving the plot forward and mining the material for insight into the nature of celebrity. It’s only in the last 40 minutes, when George tries to reconnect with his old girlfriend, Laura, played by the wonderful Leslie Mann, that real conflict is injected into the story. By then, it’s too little, too late. What’s more disappointing is Sandler’s performance, which is never as rewarding as it his other “serious” role in Punch Drunk Love. I know we’re not supposed to like George, but we are at least supposed to be interested in his character, whether or not he learns anything from his brush with death. And yet, Sandler’s performance has only two notes: angry shrieking and childish whining.

Richard X
© Cinephile Magazine, 2009