"Funny" People 07/30/2009
 
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For years it has eluded major Hollywood films. How is it that Judd Apatow and his rag tag group of geeks can wrangle up a film that is both commercial and critically successful? Is it their completely original premises? Not really. Do they completely kick convention in the face and bid adieu to film clichés? I wouldn't say so.

You see Apatow and Co. have a formula—a formula that seems to succeed every time he steps onto a movie set. His scripts take all the Hollywood clichés we have begun to groan over, and he personalizes them. We've seen all these things before; guy keeps secret from girl, girl finds out, gets mad, then they make up; or guy does something stupid, doesn't realize it, then girl gets angry, guy learns from mistake, and they make up.

This isn't new territory, but Apatow takes these conventions and roots them in a realistic base. Hollywood clichés exist because they happen to all of us, but what most films do is boil them down to their one sentence stereotypes and make them so pedestrian and dull, what Funny People does is it takes those premises and relate them to real people in real experiences with real internal conflicts.

Funny People tells the story of George Simmons and his privileged life. He has it all except friends, family, and that one girl who got away. When he learns he has a terminal disease, George decides he needs to make a change and takes a young comedian under his wing. I won't spoil more.

...more after the jump
Apatow has recruited Spielberg veteran cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, and his direction has never seemed more intimate or artistic. You will see beautiful coloring, inventive angles, and just some all around beautiful shots, which shows that a) Kaminski is the MAN and b) Apatow is becoming more comfortable and getting closer to his cast.

Maybe it has something to do with his history with them. All the Apatow regulars are in attendance and in top form, including college friend Adam Sandler. Sandler delivers an understated performance and makes us care about the relatively unlikeable Simmons, which is a true testament to his ability as an actor. Sandler also proves he isn't afraid to make fun of himself as he clearly lampoons the very career he has made for himself with ridiculous spoofs of awful-looking family flicks (see Bedtime Stories—or rather, don’t).

Seth Rogen, as his up-and-coming assistant, gets a chance to really flex some dramatic muscle this time, but unfortunately his efforts are wasted. Rogen is a funny guy and has the ability to deliver one heck of a comedic performance, but some of his lines in this film just felt forced and insincere—which is really saying something about the guy who is being touted as the “everyman” you’re supposed to relate to.

Eric Bana gets to put his comedic chops on display for the first time really and gets to show you how he got his start as a stand-up in Australia. Star Trek, Funny People and next week's Time Traveler's Wife prove that this summer is Bana'as. The rest of the supporting cast is also pretty great with the likes of Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, and Leslie Mann.

This is probably Judd's most mature work to date, and he is slowly blending in more and more drama and humanity into his scripts. I really enjoyed the film and found it to be one of the better films I've seen this year, although it is decidedly way too long and at times completely indulgent. Just don't go in expecting people smoking joints and telling non-stop dick jokes, because this movie's marketing is definitely misleading.

--Greg MacLennan
 


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