Funny People

quick note, this has no spoilers unless you did not see the trailer. The trailer gives away a bit more than usual, but whatever. Moving along.
Comedy has been the genre that has changed the most over the years. It has to, since people’s sense of humor changes, references become dated, different styles become funny and others are forgotten. Lets have a quick recap.
1950’s: I hate these films. They are all so phony and fake…..goddamn it.
1960’s: Dr. Strangelove occurs. Until then, comedies had not nearly been as controversial. Comedy seems to cover more realistic themes (that will die off in the 90’s). “You can’t fight in here! This is the war room!”
1970’s: In England, Monty Python takes off. English comedy gets more recognition, and in America, we get the low-budget black crime fighter movies (I found them hilarious). “I’m a lumberjack and I’m ok. I sleep all night, I work all day.”
1980’s: excellent comedies start coming in and starting clichés that will be used throughout the ages. Breakfast Club, Back to The future etc. Mostly situational comedy. (R.I.P. John Hughes) “Fuck you, Claire!”
1990’s: Adam Sandler decade. People apparently like comedies that are nothing more than an angry and normally idiotic Jewish man who is placed in strange situations (people are stupid). Many movies are not based on realistic situations but are more farce-like and ridiculous. BUT HOPE! Realistic and funny dialogue comes into play (Kevin Smith makes Clerks). “37!”
2000: Raunchy comedies become favored. American Pie and its sequel are given applause. Movies start to cover more adult themes. (All quotes that come to mind are not things I feel like writing…ever)
2003ish: Will Ferrell begins to take over comedy…God help us all.
2004-2006: Anchorman (produced by Apatow) was funny…and Stranger than Fiction was amazing. Your ok Ferrell. “Yes. I am relieved to know that I am not a golem”
2005: Some Judd Apatow guy makes 40 year old virgin and starts getting praise. Seth Rogen, and Paul Rudd get some recognition. “It’s like a bag of sand”
2007: Apatow makes sweet love to comedy with the amazing achievement “Knocked Up” which is still one of my favorite comedies. Seth Rogen Becomes a new comedy God (like most Canadian high school dropouts[that was a low blow. Seth I apologize. I love you]). “I don't wanna see "Spider-Man". I don't want to have to ask you to ask me. I want you to think of it yourself.”
2009: Comedy is abused, gets a cab, and goes to stay with her parents, leaving Apatow alone in the terrible thing known as “Year One” (but he was just a producer, so he can’t be blamed). (no good one-liner here. Don’t blame me. Blame Year One. It was terrible.)
There were also plenty of other great films Apatow has been a writer/producer of (examples being Superbad and Pineapple Express, or almost any movie with Seth Rogen). And we are finally brought to Funny People, and this movie was the genre I was expecting to some extent. Apatow seems to have inserted more drama into his movies over the years, Virgin being the comedy, knocked up being the comedy with some drama and sincerity, and Funny People was probably of the dramedy genre. It deals with accepting death, living life, making friends, making better choices, and learning about oneself…..oh and they are comedians. Well, lets get to work.
STORY
I love how Apatow can take the simplest thing and turn it into a completely original idea. Its like Kevin Smith movies (yes, I brought up Kevin Smith again, he’s amazing. Get used to it[ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice]). Its somewhat simple, but it becomes far more complex and interesting through beautifully crafted dialogue. George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a famous comedian and actor who used to be a god of comedy some years ago. He is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and suddenly doesn’t feel as funny as he used to. Ira (Seth Rogen) is a small somewhat new comedian who is not to great. At home his buddies Leo and Mark (Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman) seem to be doing better than him and more successful as comedians. Eventually, Simmons sees talent in Ira and hires him as an assistant/writer. The two learn more about each other and Simmons learns much more about himself. He says good bye to his friends and is overwhelmed with guilt that he didn’t make his life everything he wanted it to be. He them gets news that he is cured. Yeah! He then goes about trying to change his life for the better, now with a better idea of how he should live. He goes to see the woman he loved (Leslie Mann) who has now married Eric Bana (well, she didn’t marry the actor, Eric Bana. Eric Bana plays the character who- oh shut up).
So we have two interesting stories in two acts. We have George and Ira who do stand-up while George tries to finish everything left in his life, and then George and Ira go to see Laura after George is better. Its interesting that it doesn’t follow the typical conflict, climax, resolution pattern, and ordinarily, movies that don’t follow that pattern have no story and are not interesting. This movie somehow pulls it off almost perfectly (Im not 100% on the ending, but either than that; amazing). It also doesn’t have one main character. George Simmons may have a bit more screen time, and the story revolves around his actions, but Ira has his own story too, and not just as a subplot (I suppose you could say that its just really good character development).
I also enjoy the stand-up comedy in the movie that was written by the performers. Hearing Seth Rogen talk about Will Smith’s penis is far funnier than one might think. Apatow filmed all of the stand up (hours upon hours of material) and had about 10 minutes of it in the movie. Can’t wait for the DVD Mr. Apatow. The only thing missing from this movie was Paul Rudd. Overall, story works quite well. 20 points to the house of Apatow.
CHARACTERS
Adam Sandler as George Simmons: A funny comedian who was once a god, by being in tons of box office hits that the critics hate? Apart from the disease, Adam Sandler and George Simmons are the same person, and Sandler plays himself tremendously, without a doubt giving his best performance in any movie he’s been in (that I have seen). He really is a very funny comedian, but his dry sense of humor throughout a lot of the movie was my favorite. He created a deep character that may be a bit of a jerk, but was also very lovable, and I never lost interest.
Seth Rogen as Ira: Although very funny, Seth Rogen seems to have a bit of trouble with this role, and at times, seems out of place. I was quite surprised since I thought he did great in Knocked Up. His stand-up in the movie is funny, and as a comedic character he does well, but seems to fall short a bit in the dramatic scenes. Luckily, he doesn’t have many dramatic scenes, and is normally the comic relief sidekick character.
Leslie Mann as Laura: Leslie Mann is great in all of the Apatow movies, and I’m surprised she hasn’t done much in the past years (though this year she has been in four movies). I thought she did well in this movie. She was very funny, but was also able to do the dramatic scenes very well. There isn’t much else to say besides the fact that she did a good job.
Eric Bana as Clarke: Bana does surprisingly well in this movie, and is both funny, and intimidating as a villain of some sort; the scumbag husband to the woman Simmons loves. Bana is such a badass. It seems all he does today is amazing or epic movies than are- oh wait, Time Traveler’s Wife. Well at least the action movies he did were all- oh Hulk.
Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman as Leo and Mark: Funny guys.
Eminem, Ray Romano, James Taylor, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, and Ken Jeong have cameos. They are awesome.
Aziz Ansari IS Raaaaandy.
OVERALL:
This is a lovable and meaningful movie that is not just some regular summer comedy. I may say that this is even my favorite comedy of the year (better than Hangover and I love You, Man). It may not be 2 and a half hours of laughter, but you walk away with a lesson, and an open mind, and a few laughs, and maybe you will even think about it a while after seeing it. I fell in love with the story, felt attached to the characters, and enjoyed the stand-up and the wonderful dialogue.
Judd Apatow is a comedic genius and I can’t wait for his next project.
Final Rating: 8/10