Funny People

Judd Apatow has been around for years flying under the general public’s radar. I first became aware of him when he was on “The Ben Stiller Show.” After that he produced a bunch of movies and then he had a bunch of TV shows that all were unjustly canceled. These include “The Critic,” “Freaks and Geeks,” and “Undeclared.” He became a household name after the hilarious and original “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” which he parlayed into producing a seemingly endless streak of big summer comedies. He directed his second film “Knocked Up” which took him into slightly more thoughtful territory, exploring marriage and family. Now he takes on the subjects of death and comedy in his most personal film to date, “Funny People.”

“Funny People” is about a jaded superstar comedian who finds out he’s dying. He decides to go back to his roots doing standup and meets an up-and-coming young comedian who he hires to write his jokes. They bond and when he finds out he isn’t dying anymore has a new lease on life and tries to win back an old love. There are lots of good things about Apatow films; 1) they are really funny 2) they feel considerably original 3) they are quite sentimental and 4) the characters are surprisingly complex. All these things add up to a really good movie usually, even the ones he doesn’t write or direct his style somehow rubs off on. The case with this new movie is something kind of different than what he’s done before. It’s a better movie than it is a comedy for one thing.

When dealing with death it sometimes gets too sentimental, and it has a lot less jokes than you’d expect. That’s not to say it isn’t funny, because it really is when it’s supposed to be, but it’s not a constant laugh riot like you might expect. It seems like a really personal film for a lot of reasons. For starters it’s about comedy which is Apatow’s life’s work. It also has most of his family and best friends performing in it. It also includes real home movies from his and lead actor Adam Sandler’s lives. Sandler essentially plays a character with his exact same career, as does co-star Seth Rogen. The movie shows how good the actors actually are because not only are they funny but they are also really good at being not funny when they need to be. This might be Sandler’s best acting performance ever. His character is so unlikable he couldn’t possibly be close to it in real life. Sandler also does a really good job parodying himself; these are some of the funniest parts of the movie. There are also really strong performances by Leslie Mann and the surprisingly funny Eric Bana.

One thing about Apatow’s films is that the characters are so well crafted; they are incredibly real and believable. They are very complex like people in real life. Characters that you are supposed to hate are actually good people and the people that you are supposed to like can often be total assholes. It’s almost the exact opposite of the kind of characters that are in a Jody Hill comedy; his characters are impossible to like while Apatow’s are impossible not to like in some way. But that’s more true to life, real people are complicated. The movie doesn’t really have a satisfying ending but that’s one of the interesting things about it, life is similar in that respect as well, it doesn’t always get wrapped up the way you want it to.

While it’s not continuously as funny as his other movies, I consider that a marketing flaw rather than a flaw in the film. Expect to see something a little more serious than his previous films, but still measured with the usual humor you want to see. This is definitely a sign that Apatow is maturing as an auteur. And while it isn’t his funniest movie (ironic, since the word ‘funny’ appears in the title) it definitely shows a more introspective side of an extremely talented and funny film maker.