Movie Review: Funny People

Mark Trammell
Published On: 08/13/2009

“Funny People” is the latest offering from uber-popular comic writer/director Judd Apatow, whose last directed film was the massive hit, “Knocked Up,” back in 2007. That film redefined what a romantic com-edy could be for a new generation, forever changing the rom-com landscape, for better or for worse. To be sure, it does seem like even the lamest of rom-coms seem near-obligated to throw in some curse words or gross-out humor, lest they be seen as old-fashioned.
In his latest, Apatow now sets his sights on the comedic drama, known in some circles as the dreaded “dramedy.” Can he do for the much-maligned subgenre what he did for romantic comedies? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes.
Granted, the initial box office has been a little lackluster compared to his last film, but only in Hollywood could a $22 million-plus take (especially in a down economy) be considered a let-down. Chances are, a bit of a backlash is impending, if not already here. It’s inevitable, perhaps, that once you hit the big time, it’s only a matter of time before the press and even the public turn on you. Post-“Knocked Up,” Apatow has flooded the market with product he produced and/or co-wrote, including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Superbad,” and “Pineapple Express,” all of which were pretty successful.

What’s more, there are the knock-offs: films that seem like Apatow could have been involved in but wasn’t. These include the good: “Role Models” and “I Love You, Man;” the bad: “Dirty Love” and “The Sweet-est Thing” and the just-plain ugly: “Good Luck Chuck” and pretty much anything else involving Dane Cook. So, even the stuff Apatow wasn’t involved in seems like more of the same, and if the bottom hasn’t quite fallen out yet—witness the huge success of “The Hangover” this summer—it’s certainly started to fray, if the initial box office of “Funny People” is any indication.
The plus side is, “Funny People” is a genuinely good and heartfelt movie, which actually doesn’t rest on its laurels with easy gross-outs and infantile humor. To be sure, there is a fair bit of cursing and graphic language, but even Apatow seems to have cooled on being, well, “Apatow-esque.” Now, he’s after something more. In most dramas, it’s rare for even a flash of humor to rear its ugly head, as it is typically seen as taking away from the drama. Not here.
Long-time Apatow pal Adam Sandler stars as the fictional George Simmons, a big-time Hollywood star with a resume not unlike Sandler’s, including films in which he plays a baby with an adult head, a “mer-man,” and the like. The films, “scenes” from which are shown, are perfectly awful but hugely successful. Then tragedy strikes when Simmons realizes he has a life-threatening blood disease that all but guarantees a death sentence within the year. This causes Simmons to take a long hard look at this life, in which he realizes how little he has to live for. No friends beyond the Hollywood variety, strained relationships with his family, and a laundry list of disposable starlets, none of which he loves. There is one girl he did care for, Laura (Leslie Mann, Apatow’s real-life wife), but she’s long-since married with kids.
Craving something meaningful in his life, he hits the stand-up circuit for the first time in many a moon—and proceeds to bomb terribly.

Wanting to reconnect with his comedy roots, he hires a struggling stand-up, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) to first write jokes for him, then be his assistant. Eventually, the two become fast friends, at least until Sim-mons makes a misguided attempt to reconnect with Laura, which Wright is horrified by.

Will Simmons break up the marriage? Will he and Wright reconcile? Will Simmons go back to his old ways? You can probably figure it all out from a mile away, but that doesn’t make the journey any less enter-taining. Apatow uses the set-up as a golden opportunity to both pay homage to his comedy roots and skewer the Hollywood lifestyle ruthlessly, and the film is jam-packed with archival footage of a young Sandler and more comedians than you can shake a stick at, including Sarah Silverman, Ray Romano, Dave Attell, Norm MacDonald and plenty more where that came from. Even non-comedians get into the act, including a great bit with Eminem and one by, of all people, folkie James Taylor.
The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, especially Mann, Apatow regular Jonah Hill, and new recruit Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore”) as a cheesy sitcom actor. Mann in particular nails the tricky role of someone caught in a flailing marriage whose not above cheating on her hubby right under her kids’ noses. She’s Apatow’s greatest weapon, in every sense of the word.

So, forget the backlash. This is primo Apatow, writing and directing at the top of his game. Accept no substitutes.