Parity is the greatest form of flatulence.
What can you expect from a Judd Apatow-written and directed movie? Disenchantment. Check. Laughs. Check. Crude jokes about nuts and balls and dicks. Check. Meaningful lessons to make the viewer all the richer for having experienced it. Ah. Eh?
Funny People was two hours and 20 minutes of creating a microcosm of fame and the Hollywood lifestyle -- the attempt at it and living it -- and trying to make it human through the main characters all too real diagnosis of a life-ending disease. But then again, it was exactly everything described above with Adam Sandler playing a famous schlub lying in his own piss, metaphorically speaking, of course. Sandler's character, George Simmons, is basically a parity of Sandler's own career. Simmons, a Jewish comedian, grows up from the humble beginnings of stand-up comedy and finagled his way into the Hollywood film machine to make panderous types of entertainment flub that the general brain-dead population enjoys (i.e. Sandler's movies like The Wedding Singer and Click). Still, he has a natural knack for wit, which there are no shortages of in this movie. So Simmons, who lives in opulance because of his big box office career, recieves news that he has a debilitating disease that would most likely kill him. At this point of the movie, and, by extension, in life, news like this would become heavy for one to deal with to the point that you start rethinking your life and appreciating what little of it you have. It takes about 30 minutes of the movie for Simmons to take that turn.
In the process, he takes on a comedic apprentice played very well by Seth Rogen. His turn as a hungry, wide-eyed comedian with great naivete complemented Sandler's "what does it all mean" mentality in the movie. The "what does it all mean" mentality comes to life in the form of Leslie Mann's character Laura, who finally gets the prominent role that she greatly deserves, albeit it came in a movie her husband wrote and directed. Mann's character was hurt badly over a dozen years ago by Simmons who apparently cheated on her. Of course, clues like that were the tipping point of how Simmons became the hardened person he would become. Anyways, Laura sympathizes with Simmons' condition and the two start reconnecting in the face of it. There's also a point that both get comfortable with each other again that Laura reveals that her husband, played by Eric Bana, cheats on her and is barely around for her family.
So Simmons basically loafs around about his own mortality and how this disease will take him. There is total fear in Sandler's character. But then, he gets news that he may have beaten the disease. And all will be better, right? Well, we get a little hairy at this point of the story. At this point, we're to believe that Sandler will get the girl that she's been thinking of since she left him.
One blogger pointed out that this movie ended becoming an episode of Entourage where at the end all will be fine and nobody gets hurt and nobody really learns a lesson. And I have to agree. I felt no growth among the characters as the story progressed, maybe a little with Seth Rogen's character Ira, who went from loser comedy schlub to somebody who knew what was right and wrong and could stand on his own feet to make that decision. Sandler's performance was completely different than from what we're used to seeing him. We're accustomed to seeing him beat up Bob Barker or make incoherent baby-like noises. But as Simmons, he portrays a funny man who cannot deal with the 10-ton of bricks that fell on his lap such as a disease diagnosis. Or being passed over by the only woman she ever loved. Not his best performance, though. (On a side note, I thought his best performance came in the form of the Wedding Singer. Don't judge me, I thought it was his best.)
As a Judd Apatow-comedy, it excelled when jokes and one-liners came through. Apatow can really convey from his actors a good response given the gravity of a scene. And the picture was beautifully shot. Of course, Apatow recruited the services of Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (see Schlinder's List, Jerry Maguire).
In short, the story fell short of becoming a story of growth especially for Adam Sandler's character. But then again, we got one of Sandler's best performances. We may have also gotten Seth Rogen's best performance in his career so far (I'll cautiously stop short of saying Supporting Actor Oscar material). And the comedy of Funny People did not dissappoint, although it took too long for the story to be told. A little too long for an Apatow film.
As a special bonus, here's the YouTube vid of Jonah Hill's character in Funny People playing with cute kittens. 700,000 hits. Why?!
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