Funny People was a movie that I think benefited immensely from the fact that I caught it on DVD. I had previously been warned (if you want to call it that) not to expect a movie in the same vein as the last two Apatow-helmed flicks. In this case, I’m glad I had my expectations re-aligned, as I think it helped me approach the film from the right mindset.
As I’ve mentioned, Funny People is a very different film from the last two movies Apatow has turned out. This film felt much more personal, and to me that personality seems injected in equal parts by Apatow and star Adam Sandler. Sandler, in tone with the film, plays a much darker, more serious, character than people are used to seeing him portray. He’s done this well in the past in films like Punch-Drunk Love, but here he finds a solid middle-ground that adds weight to his character without making him seem too much of a departure from the Sandler you know.
The plot of the film essentially centers around Sandler playing a semi-caricature of himself. As a former stand-up who has “sold out” to take on brainless family comedies. He begins to re-assess his life and stumbles upon a young upstart comic (Apatow regular Seth Rogen) who he uses to get back in touch with what he wanted to be.
The film gets things moving relatively quickly, and one of my favorite scenes in the entire movie happens early on. Sandler, having just received some awful news has to walk through the lobby of an office building. In the lobby he is recognized, asked to pose for photos, asked about his movies, etc. It’s an interesting perspective, and it shows you how difficult it must be for comedians like Sandler to be expected to be “on” all the time, no matter what is happening in their personal lives. I’m not much of a sympathizer with whiny celebrities, but situations like that really make you think about how you would react in a similar situation, and take steps towards explaining some of the erratic behavior we see from so many celebrities.
That’s a bit outside the scope of a traditional review, but I bring it up because I think it hits at the films strongest quality. This movie really feels like an insider’s view in the world of a stand-up comedian. You see what happens backstage, numerous comics play themselves (or versions thereof), and you see how real-life interactions end up as fodder for the stage. It gives the movie a really cool vibe, and almost comes off like a less douchey episode of Entourage. Regardless of these characters flaws, you find yourself thinking that they’d probably be cool to hang out with, making you invest in what happens to them as the story progresses.
My biggest complaint with the film is that it ran a bit long. At around two and half hours, this movie runs well beyond the length of your average comedy. Part of the reason for this longer running time is twist the movie takes about two-thirds of the way in. I won’t spoil anything here, but one of the sub-plots of the movie really becomes the driving force of the final act. I wasn’t particularly a fan of the shift, as I was enjoying the movie as is, but I understand that that decision had to be made for the sake of driving some sort of character arc and leaving us with a fully seasoned story (as opposed to 90 minutes of spending time with these characters). However, it felt like the movie took a “Wedding Crashers” turn where they realized they had to craft a plot, threw the entire thing into the last 30 minutes, and forgot to keep telling jokes. I didn’t like it in Wedding Crashers, and I don’t like it now.
Speaking of characters, there are a number of minor players that were fantastic in their particular roles. Jason Schwartzman’s role as Rogen’s roommate, and Wu-Tang’s RZA as Rogen’s co-worker, were two of the highlights in my opinion.
One final item that I thought deserved special mention was the production design of the film. This movie was PACKED with “easter eggs” littered in the background. Whether they interwove actual footage of a young Sandler, or whether it was the fictional movie posters, memorabilia, etc. from his character, this movie would really impress you if you picked up your remote and took the time to pause each scene to check out the backgrounds and foregrounds. The fact that they had the option to use legitimate footage of Sandler really helps keep you in the moment. I’ve always found it particularly distracting when movies use the traditional method of hastily photo-shopping two actors’ heads onto a picture to try and make me think they’ve been married for twenty years or whatever. I didn’t have a chance to check out the DVD’s special features, but if they included even a small portion of some of the cool things they produced for this movie (fictional trailers, fictional TV shows, etc.) then it would probably all add to the authentic feel of the movie.
In short, I enjoyed this movie. I think I enjoyed it more than most, because my expectations were a bit closer to the film’s actual goal, as opposed to being driven by some of the film’s promotional material. I wish the film had been able to spread the character arc and development over more of the film so that the last act didn’t seem so serious and out-of-sync with the rest of the film, but I really did enjoy seeing these characters interact and the frighteningly real-world way they reacted to the situations presented to them.
Were we to meet in a bar, I’d buy this movie three beers, and just sit there and listen while it told me jokes and stories from back in the day.
Will and I watched this (upon your recommendation) and I wanted to circle back to thank you for your insights. Will has done quite a bit of stand-up comedy, and I have been part of the world to some extent as well, so we can both vouch for the authenticity of the stand-up comedy world being portrayed. That being said, we agree that the swing the film took somewhere after the Thanksgiving scene was disappointing. It was pretty awesome to see Bana stretch his legs in a lighter role on the American screen for once, but otherwise it was a yawnfest. To compare it to Wedding Crashers really is the best way to sum the ending up!
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