Funny People - Adam Sandler

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: Funny People (2009)

Studio : Columbia Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 140min

Website : www.funnypeoplemovie.com

Trailer :

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Review:

Funny People is the third directorial effort from Judd Apatow.  While this movie has the same amount and degree of laughter as Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, I felt this one was a lot deeper and darker than those two efforts.
 
Adam Sandler stars in this movie as George Simmons, a Sandleresque comedian who has achieved fame and prosperity, but is essentially a lonely man.  He begins to reevaluate his life when he’s informed that he is dying of a rare blood disorder.  Seth Rogen is Ira Wright, a struggling comedian who writes good jokes, but whose awkward on-stage delivery keeps him from progressing to the big time.

Simmons’ disease prompts him to return to his roots by performing at one of the clubs where he got his start, and by chance, he happens to catch Wright performing.  Seeing some potential in the young comic, Simmons decides to hire Wright as his joke writer/assistant.

The routines performed by the comics are hilarious, and the interplay between the two leads is fantastic.  Rogen slimmed down for this role, and he’s not playing the usual slacker he normally embodies.  He’s passionate and determined in his ambition to make it to the next level, and we root for him to do so.

I’ve always been a fan of Sandler’s work, and he conveys the same darkness and complexity that he brought to Punch Drunk Love.  His character has made some bad decisions in his life and is not a very nice person as evidenced by the way he treats his new assistant.  Still, we identify with his pain and loneliness, and we root for him to get what he wants.

His driving desire is to get back together with Laura (well-played by Leslie Mann), his ex-fiance whom he still loves, but lost several years earlier due to his philandering ways.  The final act of the movie involves Simmons and Wright driving up to San Francisco, where she’s settled into the domestic life with an absent husband and two daughters.  Her marriage has been tumultuous for years, and the arrival of the two comedians brings this tension to the surface.  At the risk of spoiling a plot point, I’ll say that this subplot ends on a surprising note, but one that’s entirely fitting to the behavior of these characters.

Funny People has a number of laughs, but the script also makes us think about human nature, mortality, and the essence of friendship.  It’s Apatow’s (and Sandler’s) best work yet. 

-Craig Wynne

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