Funny People (2009)
Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on August 6, 2009 @ tonymacklin.net.
Schlep and Schlock are together again.
The former Los Angeles roomies actor Adam Sandler and writer-director Judd Apatow have teamed up to make Funny People.
Funny People is an odd mixture of humanity, vulgarity, and soap opera.
At its best, it is an engaging character study. At its worst, it is a crass, self-indulgent home movie.
The movie opens with actual footage from the past of an adult Sandler on the phone talking in the accent of an old Jewish woman complaining to a butcher that beef gave her diarrhea. It's about as funny as the runs. It was shot by Apatow.
When I was 12, I called the local burlesque house and asked about their headliner Sheila the Peeler, "When does Sheila start peeling?" It was a riot to my buddies.
But I have no footage of that banal call, and I wouldn't use it to start my movie.
Apatow in several ways is far too self-indulgent. He has little or no sense of discipline. If David Lean was the epic director of sand and snow, Apatow is the epic director of penis jokes.
In Funny People we have to wade through an ocean full of penis jokes like humorless octopi. The first half dozen are bearable, but by the 50th penis joke, the humor is punchless and flaccid.
If Apatow had cut the majority of his beloved penis jokes, the movie which is 146 minutes in length would be less than two hours.
If Apatow also had cut ten minutes from the home movies of his family, it would be about right.
But Apatow plays the Hollywood game -- "my kids are cuter than your kids." He uses his own kids -- Maude and Iris -- to play the children of George Simmons' (Sandler) former girl friend. They are cute -- especially the younger one, and Apatow knows it -- to a fault.
And guess who plays Laura, George's former flame? Again Apatow dips into the personal gene pool. He casts Leslie Mann, his wife, and he and she nearly turn the last 20 minutes into Spanglish (2004). It's a bad move. The scenes between Mann and Sandler are the dullest in the movie
Fortunately Eric Bana, who portrays Laura's husband, adds what little real energy the last portion of the movie has.
Funny People is the story of comedian and movie star George Simmons, who is diagnosed with a rare blood disease that is fatal 92% of the time. As he struggles to cope with his disease, he meets an unsuccessful wannabe comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen). George hires Ira to write comedy for him and to be his only confidant.
The close brush with death makes George see life differently, but fate intervenes positively halfway through.
Then a doctor tells him, "get back to your life." At this point the movie abruptly grinds into another gear. What had potential to be a first-rate film about identity and communication becomes second-rate.
Much of this is due to George's trying to pursue his former love Laura. Up until this point, Funny People's humanity had fought a good fight against its lesser instincts. But at this point the Apatow clan rushes in, and the credibility rushes out.
Adam Sandler doesn't have a lot of range, but he can act. He was excellent in Punch-Drunk Love (2002).
Apatow knows his actor-friend. There is a wonderful shot of George holding onto the end of an indoor swimming pool in which Sandler is an image of powerful anguish. He's the least effective when he's angry, but he's usually convincing. When George is at his most human, Sandler is at his best.
The chemistry in Funny People doesn't come between Sandler and Mann; it comes between Sandler and Seth Rogen. Rogen, playing the vulgar but decent Ira, grounds the movie. He and Sandler create a believable relationship.
Apatow is able to create some memorable scenes. One of the best is in a restaurant when Eminem verbally attacks Ray Romano. It is a sly play on both their images.
Apatow's editors Craig Alpert and Brent White do a nice job of keeping some scenes from going on too long. Production designer Jefferson Sage and art director James T. Truesdale create a clever look to the settings. The photos of Redd Foxx, Rodney Dangerfield, et al, and the poster of Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973) give a credible ambience to the apartment shared by Ira and his two roommates. They are played by Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill -- who seems to have the patent on delivering witless lines. I think he bought it from Rob Schneider.
Apatow also uses a lot of actual musicians and comedians to give his movie authenticity. Among them are James Taylor, Sarah Silverman, and the atrocious Andy Dick.
When Sandler and Rogen are doing their thing, Funny People is in good form.
But, a little advice for Apatow: Judd, keep your family at home. And put your vast collection of comic dildos into a drawer somewhere.
Their batteries are dead. It's Adam and Seth who are alive.
