It's interesting to look at Judd Apatow's career trajectory and see the obvious growth in his work, but also the way his subject matter has no doubt reflected his own station in life. From exploring the uncertainty of upcoming adulthood in Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared to tackling those guys who never quite grew up at all in 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Funny People, the third film from Apatow as writer/director is his most mature by far. But does that make it better?
The coolest part of the film by far is it's opening five minutes, featuring what must be 20 year old clips of Adam Sandler making crank calls, shot by his roomate Apatow. It's the perfect juxtaposition to the current state of Sandler's character, comedian George Simmons. Much like Sandler himself, George is hugely successful, having built himself up from total unknown stand-up comic to a media icon. Homie can nail pretty much any chick he wants, which he's more than happy to take advantage of. But as is always the case, George isn't happy with his life. He's lonely, missing the woman that he loved but let get away. What's worse, he just got diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and doesn't have long to live.
To help him through his illness and to help in writing jokes, George takes a shine to hapless stand-up comic, Ira, played by Seth Rogen in his most likeable role in ages. Ira lives in an apartment with his more successful roomates, Mark(Jason Schwartzman who desperately needs an eyebrow trim) and Leo(Jonah Hill). Mark is in an awful sitcom called Yo Teach, that looks like the bastard son of Head of the Class. These sequences between the three buddies are the film's weakest by far. All three are extremely talented and funny on their own, but for some reason none of it works here. Oh, wait, I do know why. I can only take so long of listening to any dude talk about his penis. That's why. Funny People seems obsessed with it, as it seems to be the prevailing topic of the entire film, even moreso than George's illness. Maybe there are some dudes who talk like that, but I probably would've eye gouged them all out of sheer irritation before too long. Before long, George finds out his illness has suddenly disappeared, and he desires to try and start over again with his ex, Laura(Judd Apatow's wife Leslie Mann. Yes, that's why she's in all his movies). Leslie now has two kids, but is not so happily married. She and George slowly begin to rekindle their relationship.
The biggest problem I have with Funny People is exactly what I was hoping wouldn't be the case: it's all over the map in terms of tone. The best thing this movie has going for it is the relationship between George and Ira, which is as a mentor/student as George sorta guides his career. It's almost like he's shaping Ira to be a new version of himself, which is ironic since George pretty much hates how his own life has turned out. This should've been the movie. There's more chemistry between the vet Sandler and Rogen than there is between Sandler and Mann, which ain't good considering the entire second half is dedicated to George attempting to win Leslie back.
In fact, the latter portion of the film feels like a bad sitcom, and a lot of the issue revolves around Leslie Mann's character. Apatow has taken some criticism for his handling of women in his movies, never quite making them feel like real people and that is definitely the problem here. Leslie plays an utterly unlikeable character, and frankly I'm sick of watching her highlighted in each of Apatow's films. Ok, I get it. She's a sexy "older" chick. Whatever. Can we maybe see her play a character with some genuine emotions? I guess not. Her every decision is baffling. She sleeps with George with her kids hanging out with some complete stranger in her own home. She comes off as a total shrew, mocking her Aussie businessman husband Clarke(Eric Bana). Clarke is no saint either, as there's some question of his fidelity, but there's no genuine dislike for his wife that shines through. Bana actualy plays the role perfectly, and not like a scene stealing ham like Mann. Every scene between Laura and George fails to connect, and all it serves to do is make you long for more Schwartzman's bushy brows, which ain't a good thing.
It's obvious that Apatow thinks very highly of this story, and that it's extremely special to him. In particular, I think he paid special attention to Rogen's character, and for his part Rogen puts on the best single performance I've seen from him. Ira is delightfully awkward and self-deprecating, especially around women. It evokes the things that made us like Rogen to begin with back before he became the newly slim 'n trim megastar he is now. The best part about Ira is watching him grow from a terrible comic to a somewhat more confident, capable performer under George's tutelage. If only we could've seen more of it.
A host of guest appearances brighten up many of the film's ensemble sequences, from Rza to Sarah Silverman to Justin Long. But the guy who made the entire movie for me was Eminem. Dude, I've never liked your music but I'll be damned if you didn't blow up the spot here. Eminem plays himself, ofcourse, but a depressed violent version of himself. Ok, that's just him. He takes issue with George's celebrating his good health, and takes his anger out on poor Ray Romano who made the mistake of looking in the wrong direction. Awesome stuff. Can we get an Eminem/Romano buddy cop comedy in the works somewhere?
Funny People clocks in at over 2 1/2 hours, and I felt every single minute of it. It drags when it shouldn't be dragging. Maybe I expected too much, but that's the price of Apatow's phenomenal success. Funny People just doesn't feel like it had nearly as much to say as it thought it did, hence the haphazard final act and ill-fitting final scene that felt like a last ditch effort at a happy ending. I'm hesitant to totally write the film off, because there's plenty to like here. I just wish Apatow could see what worked, and what so clearly didn't.
6/10
