Those who know me outside the distressed borders here at X RETICENT REVIEWS know that JUDD APATOW isn’t my favorite. In fact, I cannot think of a more vexing contemporary comedy king. His past two pictures, THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP were smash hits. And anyone would agree they deserved every penny alongside every praising review. VIRGIN was explicit, but strangely tender. KNOCKED UP was outrageous, but ultimately comforting.
And it was less the success and popularity of the pictures that annoyed me, and more that APATOW himself was receiving the same accolades a young SCORCESES or even TODD PHILLIPS would receive. Without question, it’s difficult for me to dislike such a pop-culture commodity (I mean, who can resist EFFRON in 17 AGAIN?), but someone has to. Someone has to say both pictures were 40 minutes too long. That KNOCKED UP’s script was one-dimensional, at best. That VIRGIN was too frustrating to be practical. And that the seemingly genuine “realities” APATOW crafts are rarely believable enough to support the dramatic storylines they’re packaged with.
And look, I’m not going to lie – I laugh at APATOW comedies. How could you not when they're littered so richly with talent? I’ve laughed so hard beer sprays through my nose and pretzels shoot from my mouth like confetti – and I’ve done it with anyone from my friends to my father. It’s not that APATOW’S films aren’t gratifying on a humorous level, but rather, are never without a predictable resolution. It’s as if on cue a moral environment erupts in each story, bubbling around the characters like foam around dancers in the meatpacking district. It’s this whisking me away from the sordid lives of his characters and into a world of calm reason that makes me want to hurl popcorn at the screen whilst verbally demanding more dick jokes.
Still, for some reason, I didn’t hate FUNNY PEOPLE. If you missed the trailer (which spelled out the plot with the clarity an English bulldog understands), ADAM SANDLER plays GEORGE – a Hollywood comedy star handed a grim prognosis on his recently discovered blood disease. SETH ROGEN stars as IRA – a struggling stand-up comic hired strictly as GEORGE’S assistant, and not hired as his friend (a relationship point whose explanation became as explicit as it was needless).
Together GEORGE and IRA sift through the weeks writing jokes, performing shows and insulting one another out of boredom. As GEORGE’S condition worsens, he re-kindles a relationship with his once-love LAURA, played by LESLIE MANN (who in real life is married to JUDD APATOW… for those curious). LAURA has feelings for GEORGE, but is in a rocky marriage to CLARKE – played spot on by ERIC BANA. Soon GEORGE learns the experimental medication is working, the immediacy of GEORGE and LAURA’s feelings for one anther is pushed and things get hot.
Running around during all this is IRA – who occasionally seeks council with his two roommates LEO KOENIG and MARK TAYLOR JACKSON. LEO is a struggling stand-up comic one step ahead of IRA and is played with surprising competence by JONAH HILL (although the fat jokes wore thin midway through). MARK is a well-paid actor on a cheese-ball NBC comedy series, and is played by JASON SCHWARTZMAN; a performance that is (sadly) perfect only in moments.
Sometimes that’s the most frustrating. Throughout FUNNY PEOPLE, there are glimpses of genius: a camera flawlessly capturing a stand-up routine with ease, clarity and humor. But these peeks at perfection are packed between far too many mushy montages. FUNNY PEOPLE got me to think about some if it’s jokes, but never demanded I think about the characters. My genuine hope is that APATOW remedies his tendency to over expose the emotional barometer of his main players. I think FUNNY PEOPLE is a step in the right direction. See in theaters only if you’d like – otherwise this picture is a great view with a handful of pals and a stocked refrigerator.
