Day 72: Funny People (2009)

Funny People
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann

I am a fan of the Apatow house of comedy. His crew churns out hilarious movies at a wild rate full of loveable characters and quotable dialogue. Though his name gets attached to almost every other comedy that comes out these days, this is only the third movie he has directed (along with 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up). I'm not sure I like this movie as much as his others, but it is definitely up to par.

Sandler plays George Simmons, a world famous comedy star who has just found out he is dying. He highers a young struggling stand up comedian (Rogen) to write jokes and become his personal assitant. He is also pining over (and later actively persuing) the "girl that got away". He also tries to grow up a little bit along the way.

This may seem like plenty of story to fill a film (and it is). However, this would be a sad movie, so Judd threw in a B story (a first for his films) that deals with Rogen's roommates and a crush he has. This really seems unnecessarily jammed into the movie, but it made me laugh, so it's hard to complain too much.

I'm not the biggest Adam Sandler fan. I like Happy Gilmore and think Billy Madison is kind of funny. That's about it. Here, though, he really impressed me. It's like watching Bill Murray in Rushmore. To se a funny man channel some really inner striggle can be very powerful. Sandler did very well at portraying the struggles of his character (which changed him throughout the movie). The supporting cast was also great, especially Eric Banna and Jason Schwartzman. Hell, I even thought Jonah Hill was funny (and I usually can't stand him!).

The real hilight here, though, was Seth Rogen. I just love the guy. I think that I would like almost any movie he stars in. He's just so loveable and genuine. Here, we see a much sweeter, honest character than he usually plays. This guy is the comedy superstar of today and I don't mind it at all.

My only complaint here is that Judd seemed to have trouble with his female characters (played by Mann and Aubrey Plaza). Both characters seemed to be flaky and nowhere near as genuine as their male counterparts.

Overall, a funny movie that handled the dramatic side very well. I thought the ending was very satisfying and would probably laugh harder if I saw the movie again.

Lesson learned: Wilco is a good date band.