Apatow takes to new heights with matured film

The Critic
Ty Hampton

“Funny People” -- 4/5 stars

So roughly 8 months ago I heard the names Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, and Seth Rogen mentioned in the same sentence with a new project named “Funny People” and the image that pops into your mind if you’re a dude like me is “funniest movie EVER.” The reality is it’s not, nowhere close. But it’s a mature, true-to-life story that shocked me and has stuck with me since I saw it in theatres a couple weeks back.

“Funny People” is a peculiar mix of Apatow’s typical adolescent male sex jokes, emotional turmoil and trauma, a protagonist who is staring death and mortality in the face on a daily basis, and a behind-the-scenes homage to the art of standup comedy all rolled into one film. That mix precisely, is it’s genius and why I highly recommend this film over any of Apatow’s earlier works.

George Simmons (Sandler) is a comic that has taken from his early roots in standup to the big stage of being a millionaire movie star. Nowadays Simmons does not see much to laugh about in life though, as his doctors have diagnosed him with a late stage terminal illness with less than a year to live.

George takes a cathartic turn back towards the standup stage but finds that he’s lost his touch over the years. Impressed by a set of young comics Ira (Seth Rogen) and Leo (Jonah Hill), George asks them to write some jokes for him.

What ensues is an odd-couple relationship between George and Ira that will go down in the record books as the two actors flirt with legendary chemistry. Then when the doctors tell George that the experimental meds he was on look to be working, and he will survive his illness, the protagonist has a new lease on life and begins to go after the things that mean most to him with a renewed sense of wounded optimism and hope.

The two primary stars in this film sell it at every scene, with Rogen taking a more friendly backseat to his usual crude nature and Sandler playing a flawed, love-to-hate Jack Nicholson-like role. Both are amazing and truly inspiring in this film.

If you watched this movie and felt like it hit home or had an extremely personal touch to it, well that would make perfect sense. Written and directed by Apatow, the creator based a lot of the movie off of he and Sandler’s early days as comics before they both took to Saturday Night Live. Several clips of a young Adam are actually personal videos that Apatow put in the film for an authentic effect.

Plus if there is anything Judd is the master at, it’s telling it like it is. His movies never sugarcoat anything, and usually deal with issues in a completely, unadultered and honest manner.

The supporting cast for this film is also outstanding, as has become the custom with both Sandler and Apatow films. Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Leslie Mann, Aubrey Plaza, Eric Bana, Aziz Ansari made memorable contributions throughout the film and the likes of Eminem and Ray Ramano as cameos made for one of the movie’s funnier moments.

Although movie-goers may not get exactly what they expected when they headed out to see this film, I believe they got so much more and that makes this a stronger film that will hold up through time. This movie will make you laugh, cry, and re-evaluate your friendships and the true priorities in your life all in a 2.5 hour time span. That’s really the only drawback from the film is the length and the fact that the last 20 minutes were probably a bit unnecessary.

If you’re up for that kind of ride though, I highly recommend seeing “Funny People”. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.