"Funny People" Review

Funny People (2010)
Dir: Judd Apatow

“I just came back from the new Harry Potter movie. Harry's getting old. They should start calling him Harold Potter.”

“Funny People” was an odd movie. There was dirty humour, clean humour and trite drama. It was like three different films. The good parts are among the best of the Apatow films but the worst, are just terrible.

Adam Sandler flat out sucks. He can’t act. He has these horribly unfunny voices that he does throughout this movie, as well as others, that had me cringing. I felt a bit embarrassed for him until I remembered how much money he is making. 

Sandler plays George Simmons, a famous comedian who has been out of the spotlight. In the opening minutes of the film he is told that he has an inoperable and rare form of leukemia. This makes him re-evaluate his life, and gets him to reconnect with his long lost friends and family. Among them is Laura (Leslie Mann), ‘the one that got away’ who is now married with 2 children. George also enlists a young up and coming stand up comedian, Ira (Seth Rogen), to write jokes for him and act as his personal assistant. There is a twist in the film that was revealed in the trailer that I won’t reveal here.

 

The film is over 2 and a half hours and it has no business being that long. It could have done with a good edit. The first half is spent with George and Ira doing stand up and not much else. Ira’s roommates, although probably the funniest part of the movie, were really unnecessary. The film felt really unfocused, it had no idea who the story was about and what the actual plot or point of the film was.

The second half was focussed on George and Laura, and her Australian husband, Clarke (Eric Bana). This had some pretty lame scenes of George trying to win the love of his life back. None of this worked because I hated the character of George Simmons. There were barely any likable people in the movie and although that in itself isn’t a criticism, the film doesn’t pull it off.

The thing I remember most when I think about the movie is Jonah Hill. I thought he was very funny in most of the Apatow movies he’s been in; I laughed very much at his Harry Potter line.

I saw this film 3 days ago and I really regret not writing my review straight after seeing it because details are slipping my mind, which is a bad sign. Although I did laugh at quite a few jokes, it’s not enough to make a good movie. I have a hard time remembering film that I didn’t like that much. Here are the things I remember:

-       Adam Sandler’s shitty ‘voices’.

-       Skinny Seth Rogen.

-       Eric Bana really playing up his Australian accent and his character being very stereotypical.

-       Sloppy story telling.

-       Seth Rogen telling a joke about a grandfather titty fucking his own balls.

So, I guess this review is just as unfocused, poorly written and in need of an edit as the film. Consider this review a comment on the film, a metaphor for the structure of the movie. It’s a representation of its essence. 

Top 5 Things About “Funny People”

5. Jonah Hill.

4. “That was like a scene from “Deer Hunter””

3. The climactic fistfight.

2. RZA.

1. Leslie Mann’s Australian accent.

6/10