Review: Funny People

Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aubrey Plaza, RZA, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow
SCR/DIR: Judd Apatow
R / 2:20 / RELEASE: 7/31/09

Ultimately flawed but noble film suggests that comedy and mortality are more intertwined than we think: both bring people together but neither is powerful enough to truly change a person’s nature.  Sandler bravely deconstructs his own career as George Simmons, a lonely clown popular for juvenile high-concept comedies that people claim to love but that even he knows are crap.  He has also been diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. 

His numbered days are reason enough to hit the road and start performing stand-up again, so he hires insecure budding comedian Rogen to write jokes and otherwise function as his assistant.  Mann is the One That Got Away, and is at the top of the heap of discarded family and friends.  And then there is Rogen’s roommates, a self-obsessed sitcom star (Schwartzman) and an equally-desperate comic (Hill) who is as competitive as he is supportive.  Rogen’s past roles have been loud and broad with moments of authenticity, but his performance here is full of awkward, bracing moments with a solid undercurrent of decency.

What’s admirable about Apatow’s third film is how unapologetically genuine the characters are even when they do despicable things to each other.  The film may be structured like a serious drama about life’s choices, but it’s absolutely spit-out-your-soda funny in places.  Sandler is really quite good: in solo moments when processing the direction his life has taken; and when the story calls for him to be a shallow A-hole. The movie argues that people just don’t really change that much, and maybe that’s true.  But it warms the heart knowing that somewhere, just maybe, the real  Adam Sandler might regret ever making Little Nicky.

SEMI-SPOILER (AND MY TWO CENTS): A mid-film twist sucks all the momentum out of the story by removing Sandler’s primal urge to change his life.  As screenwriting guru Blake Snyder (“Save the Cat!”) would tell us, the primal needs of a character dictate how much the audience is involved.  And wanting to re-start a relationship (and threatening a stable, if unhappy, marriage) just ain’t primal.  It’s bold, to be sure, and certainly realistic but this prolonged section is never as compelling as the first half and leaves a bad taste. 

The story never recovers from this plot point, and the worst part is that it was easily avoidable.  All Apatow had to do was withhold the pivotal (hospital) scene until the end and remove all evidence of that revelation in the meantime.  The result would have created a stronger connection to Sandler through this last-act episode.  Drop the revelation that his medical situation has changed until after he’s alienated everyone -- and then have him visit Rogen at the deli -- and Apatow has created something ironic and powerful. 

The Keyser Soze relevation, Rocky Balboa not winning the fight but getting the girl, Luke Skywalker finding out about his father -- all classic moments not just because they were amazing, but also because of when they were revealed to us. 

Oh, and the reason I said "semi-spoiler" is because Universal already spoiled every damn twist and story point in the trailer: