When Adam Sandler and writer/director Judd Apatow were roommates and struggling comics, Sandler would entertain himself by making prank phone calls. Apatow found them so amusing that he videotaped them.  Funny People begins with this real footage, and then we see present day comic star George Simmons (Sandler) sadly watching his younger self.  Like the opening, Funny People is hilarious in parts and surprisingly moving.   Funny People‘s only flaw is that with a running time of two hours and twenty six minutes, it needs another edit.  However, Apatow gets excellent performances from the talented pals who often populate his films, and despite its length, this entertaining film is worth the ticket price and the time.

When comedian and film star George Simmons is diagnosed with a terminal blood disease requiring experimental treatment, he is not sure how to change his life. When he sees young comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) perform at the Improv, he hires Ira (he calls him Schmira, which is hilarious when uttered by Sandler) to write jokes for his act and be his personal assistant. Wright sleeps on the couch of his two friends, fellow comic Leo (Jonah Hill) and sitcom star Mark (Jason Schwartzman).  The film moves between scenes in comedy clubs, scenes of the three young comics in their apartment, and scenes of George and Ira as George pursues experimental treatment and his now married lost love Laura (Leslie Mann, who is also the real life wife of Judd Apatow).

I find Sandler’s past performances to be both very funny (SNL, The Wedding Singer and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan) and very annoying (the parts of Happy Gilmore I could stand to watch), but I was very impressed by his serious turn in Punch-Drunk Love.  In Funny People, Sandler is at his best.  George’s standup scenes are very funny; both character and actor show the importance of comic delivery when George takes the mildly amusing jokes written by Ira and causes waves of laughter in both the theater audience and the comedy club audience.  (Apatow used real audiences for these scenes, explaining that they would be seeing stand up by actors in character.) But Sandler’s serious scenes may be even stronger than his comedy scenes. George’s scenes with his sister and parents are dark and understated, and he shows his vulnerable side when he asks Ira, and then Laura, to talk to him until he falls asleep. But when he becomes impatient with Laura’s children (the real life offspring of Mann and Apatow), we see the layers Sandler gives George.

Jonah Hill seems to be playing his usual role, but he is funny and likeable. The competition among the three roommates is intense and funny. When Ira tells Leo that he has been hired to write jokes for George, Hill opens his eyes wide and without a trace of irony asks, “Why?” Jason Schwartzman’s Mark has no sense of humor about his lame sitcom Hey Teach, and this makes his scenes even funnier. There is a fake web site for this fake television show where you can watch Schwartzman in character discuss this show. Aubrey Plaza  is  wonderfully refreshing as Ira’s potential love interest and fellow comic, Daisy. She is low key and quirky, and very appealing, and one of the few women stand up comics in this film.

It is nice to see Seth Rogen play a sweet guy who seems insecure with women. Ira has trouble getting a date, but his self deprecating stand-up routine seems to only consist of jokes (somehow they are funny) about his male member and flatulence.  We see George’s point when he asks Ira, “Is your act designed to make sure that no girl will ever sleep with you?” My favorite scenes in the film are the ones with Sandler and Rogen, as the two work to define their changing relationship. At times George treats Ira like a lowly hired hand, but it is clear Ira is something closer to a friend (“You are my closest friend and I don’t even like you,” George states over lunch).  Ira tries to be George’s friend and wants George as a mentor. Rogen’s Ira is hesitant and caring as he makes George a playlist to cheer him up and tries to convince George not to break up the family of his ex- girl friend. When Laura shows a tape of her daughter’s performance from Cats, George checks his cell phone, but Ira is riveted. When Ira sincerely says that he almost cried, I believed him.  Rogen can convincingly play a sensitive character.

Apatow fans should not expect another The 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, but this film is still very funny and never maudlin or self-conscious. If like me, you were waiting for something more substantial from clever and funny Apatow, you will not be disappointed. The Laura/George romance is diverting, but this film is really about the relationship between George and Ira, and Ira and his roommates.  These male relationships are not the kind of relationships women have, but they ring true. I am pretty sure I went to high school with guys just like these characters. In Funny People, comedy is the language these male friends speak, and the fact that this language is funny does not detract from its power. When George and Ira have a serious argument, George chooses the most hurtful words he knows. “You made a bad career choice. Comedy is for funny people,” George tells him. Sandler does not smile when he says this, and his eyes look sad.  The funny people in this film are just as sad as everyone else.  I love the end of this film. It is unexpected for a box office hit, but it feels true and right.

Funny People.  Directed by Judd Apatow.   Adam Sandler (George Simmons), Seth Rogen (Ira Wright), Leslie Mann (Laura), Eric Bana (Clarke), Jonah Hill (Leo Koenig) , Jason Schwartzman (Mark Taylor Jackson),  Aubrey Plaza (Daisy), Maude Apatow (Mable) and Iris Apatow (Ingrid).  Universal Pictures, 2009.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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