MOVIE REVIEW: FUNNY PEOPLE

FUNNY PEOPLE

Five of Seven Cows

Okay, I’m only going to say this once and if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it: Adam Sandler can act. As the thespian (no, that doesn’t mean he’s gay) that brought us such masterpieces as Don’t Mess With the Zohan and Strange Wilderness, I guess it was only a matter of time before Sandler would try to go straight and take on a serious role. That he succeeds in Funny People, and succeeds masterfully, is a bit of a stunner.

             

Not that Sandler’s role as George Simmons is that great a stretch. Simmons is a former stand-up comedian that hit the big time, starring in low-brow, brain-dead comedies and inexplicably making a mint for it. Sound familiar? But his life takes a serious turn when he is told he has a rare form of leukemia, and not long to live. Confronted by imminent death, Simmons is also forced to face the emptiness of his life – a clichéd device, sure, but an effective one.

            

 Aside from Sandler’s acting, which is surprisingly believable and restrained, Funny People owes its success to the screenwriting and direction of Judd Apatow (Year One, Pineapple Express, Superbad, etc…) which is also surprisingly believable and restrained. I use those words on purpose: Nothing in this movie is overplayed, either for laughs or sentiment. Opportunities for bigger yuks or tear-duct torture are allowed to pass in favor of realism, and this is a good thing. If you’ve ever looked at a star like Sandler and wondered, “I wonder what their lives are really like,” Funny People will come as close to peeking behind the curtain as you’re ever going to get.

            

 Aside from Sandler, the cast includes Apatow’s usual suspects; Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, and Jonah Hill, as well as Jason Schwartzman. All acquit themselves well. Rogen, who co-stars, plays an aspiring comedian who is taken under Simmons’ wing and made his assistant. Again; restrained and believable, and his best role yet. Leslie Mann is great as Simmon’s ex-wife, though I might only be saying that because I think I’m in love with her.

            

 Funny People is not a perfect movie. Forty-minutes less would have been more, with greater focus on the life/death angle and less on ex-wife sub-plot. This is also not a movie for the kiddies, as the themes are adult and the language is crude, though that doesn’t seem to dissuade anyone these days. This was very-nearly a six-cow movie, but one cow was butchered by the lack of focus at the end. Five cows it is.