Funny People makes you sad

Judd Apatow’s third flick is no knock out

By Alysse Dalessandro
Published: August 5th, 2009 | 12:20pm

Judd Apatow brings his favorite funny man, Seth Rogan, to an all-star cast of so-called comedians in his latest film, Funny People. The result may not be what one would expect from the man who brought us The 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up – rather than rolling in laughter, viewers get a tough dose of realism.

Rogan plays Ira Wright, an awkward wannabe comedian living in Los Angeles with his pals, fellow wannabe Leo Koening (Jonah Hill) and pseudo-famous-for-being-on-a-cheesy-sitcom actor Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman). But this is no traditional “bromance,” the real plot develops when Wright meets legendary funny man George Simmons (Adam Sandler) who has just learned he has a blood disorder with a low chance of survival. Simmons asks Wright to be his personal assistant/joke writer.

I wanted a movie where Adam Sandler’s character had a terminal disease to still be funny. Is that sick and twisted? Maybe, but when Sandler tackles the serious, I just don’t buy it. Remember Spanglish? (It’s okay, I’ve tried to block it out too.) This movie shows us an angry, immature Sandler who remains unlikable throughout the film – tough to swallow for someone who is known for movies like The Wedding Singer and Happy Gilmore.

This movie is full of dick jokes, but that’s it. Appearances from famous funny friends like Andy Dick, Norm MacDonald, Sarah Silverman, Ray Romano, and even Eminem don’t offer much support. Although this film fails to deliver on the funny, it does show what happens when people let fame and money rule their life.

The movie isn’t completely devoid of humor. Schwartzman’s narcissistic portrayal of a D-list actor is amusing. He also served as the film’s composer and the mellow soundtrack served as a welcome contrast to the stressed-out characters. Singer-songwriter James Taylor also made a musical cameo. In addition to lending his pipes, the singer gives some unexpected one-liners including shouting “Fuck Facebook” at a corporate MySpace event.

Up and comer Aubrey Plaza plays Daisy, the girl-next-door comedian. As one of basically two women in the film, she has witty stand up and a quirky sense of humor. Leslie Mann, the other female, gives a flat performance as Laura, Simmon’s “one that got away.” The children of Apatow and Mann, Maude and Iris Apatow, play her daughters in the film – nearly outshining their famous mother.

The dark side of celebrity often gets overlooked in society, but Apatow gives a realistic story of funny people – but it’s realistically painful to watch.

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EricaPhillips (over 2 years)
Hey Alysse, I have to respectfully disagree. I thought the film actually achieved what it was going for -- to be a comedy about a serious subject. There were a lot of dick jokes, yes, but I believed they were self-conscious: they were in the film about comedians because comedians make a lot of dick jokes. The real humor of the film was in moments like Ira and Daisy's cheesy date, sitting on the hood of his car on Mulholland Drive listening to Wilco ... hilarious in its formulaity! I laughed out loud. A moment at the Thanksgiving dinner also comes to mind -- when George leaves Daisy and Ira alone to talk and, because it's awkward as he's taking his leave, shouts "thanks for shopping at Ralph's!" I could go on and on ... it was very "Apatow" in its meandering nature, and the structure was unique in the way the first half and the second half could have been two separate films. But the more I think back on it, the more I remember the innumerable tiny morsels of genuine humor (when Leo opines that the new Harry Potter movie should be called "Harold Potter" ... Jason Schwartzman's entire character ...) I highly reccommend it. Just as long as you ladies know what you're in for before you get there (a guy movie), it's still worth seeing.