Funny People (2009)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Well, I only go this movie because Adam Sandler is in it. I find he makes one good movie, one bad, one good, one bad..So thought' I'd take a chance. It's an okay story with good performances, but wow, there IS a lot of things wrong with this. For starters, it's a re-hashed story from 'The Great Buck Howard." - almost exactly, in terms of the two main characters. Show biz big guy gets an assistant and treats him badly. Assistant finally leaves and they meet again later. Been there, done that. Now about the humour. Maybe this is just an indication of how stupid society has become, but seriously,, I got bored of the penis jokes after about the 5000th one. One per movie might be funny, but after one you're flogging a dead horse. Seriously.? Penis jokes are funny when you're ten. When your a grown adult, it's just embarrassing unless you have an IQ below 80 and live in a hillybilly log cabin or something. The only thing here is, at first George Simmons was dying. In the Great Buck Howard he wasn't.

This film was a mess, it was kind of all over the place in that there was no clear plot or message. If you were expecting a film with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen to be comedic you will be very disappointed. This film is not funny and fails to have any genuine funny moments but some weak jokes here and there. It completely and utterly fails at drama which was so poorly done and unconvincing it was painful to watch. Clearly Adam Sandler is not cut out to be in dramas, the world has firmly placed him in the comedy genre that he has done so well in the past. Leslie Mann is a very unimpressive actress, unfortunately she seems to be showing up in almost every low level B film that might have done better had she not been in it. She mainly plays an over dramatic, whiny and fragile character in almost every modern film and is simply exhausting to watch. In other words she ruins almost every film she is in. Another star was removed just for having her in this film and making it worse than it already was.

Adam Sandler's best film to date, I know that is not saying much but this is still a solid film.What makes the film work is Adam Sandler's performance (bet you never though you'd hear that ever). Sandler is much better at drama than comedy and in this film you see a real 3 dimensional human being who honestly believes that he is doing the right thing in terms of getting his life back on track. This is relatable because we have all been in that situation where we wanted something so bad we were completely blind-sided to how it might affect other people and how selfish we were being. The chemistry between Sandler and Seth Rogen, you really begin to sympathize with Rogen's character because you see how much he has grown to care for Sandler's character. The rest of the cast did well, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, RZA etc. They all served their purpose but I did feel that they were more there to help the plot move along as opposed to seeing characters.An area where the film falls flat was, as with many of Apatow's films, the film could have been at least 30 minutes shorter and there were several scenes and characters that did not serve purpose and did not need to be there. For example, there were at least three musical montages over the course of the film, I believe the film could have got by with at least one fewer. Also, Aziz Ansari's character was not funny and really did not need to be in the film as he did nothing to add to the plot.However, apart from that Funny People is still a strong drama. I say drama because it is not that much of a comedy. What I love about Apatow's films is that he makes dramatic films with very funny moments to balance out the drama and tension and I like that. You will not cry with laughter but I believe you will be entertained.

Funny People is a great movie with a very well developed storyline and a fantastic comedy cast that also do a really good job in scenes when they need to be more dramatic.It's another very well written comedy drama from Judd Apotow,which features a career turn for Adam Sandler,he takes a break from goofy comedies to play a character who really develops as we see him start off as a very pompous character and soon learns from his mistakes and becomes a better man,George Simmons is certainly one of the best performances of his career and without a doubt the character I had the most sympathy for out of everyone he's ever played.Seth Rogen also played a very normal character who I had the most sympathy for,partly because I am a huge fan of Rogen but also because I could really relate to him at times,particularly the awkward situations he was in and the way he just smiles when he can't think of anything to say.The film does bring in some great laughs as well of course,a lot of scenes had me in stitches and there are some quotable lines also.A serious story that still manages to bring in laughs,Funny People is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good comedy or drama. When a rich comedian finds out he has leukemia,he reconsiders his life,helped by an aspiring comedian.Best Performance: Adam Sandler Worst Performance: Eric Bana