Showing posts with label Funny People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Funny People. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Funny People Discussion
Once again, Sam forgets how on the same page Jordan is with his view of movies. Sam's got some 'splainin to do about why he gave it a lower grade than Jordan....
Sam's Review: Funny People
It seems as though Judd Apatow’s Funny People had years of reputation going against it. Apatow has brought some of the best comedies of the 00’s, not to mention a couple of comedies that were too funny to have a long shelf life.
Leading up to this final installment in Apatow’s “trilogy” (40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up), we’ve learned that his films are often comprised of hilarious improve and great pop-culture references. This is not that type of movie. But that is not such a bad thing; well, maybe for the people who didn’t get the memo. For all our reader out there, Funny people is a DRAMA. Yes, they may say it’s a comedy or bend a little and say it’s a dramedy, but it is, in my mind, a drama. It may throw some people because it includes some of the funniest people in show business at the moment. It also happens to be about comedians so of course there will be jokes, but at the heart of Funny People is a story about mortality, loneliness, the price of fame, and cock jokes.
The story starts out with an famous comedic actor, George Simmons (Adam Sandler), finding out he has a rare form of leukemia. Hilarious, right? He starts doing stand-up again and really goes into the depths of his unhappiness (word on the street is that comedians are unhappy folk). He pines for his lost love (Leslie Mann) and even reaches out to an up-and-coming comic named Ira (Seth Rogen). Rogen is hired to write jokes and be his assistant, but quickly becomes Sandler’s confidant in this part of his life.
Luckily Sandler recovers from the disease and tries to get back with Mann who is currently married to hunky Aussie Clarke (Eric Bana). In this part of the movie, things seemed to feel dragged down by the courtship of Mann. But it was good to see things went the correct, logical direction rather than the typical uber-fantasy of the movies.
While the Mann courtship held the movie down and likely made it longer than it should have (a surprisingly common complaint amongst Apatow films even though I thought Knocked Up was perfect in length) the performances throughtout the movie were surprisingly strong. Leslie Mann did a great job and proves that she is not just there (but probably is) because she is married to the director (what a lucky motherfucker, I digress). Sandler proved touching and went beyond is wacky shaba-do’s. Rogen did a solid job and really sold me as a stand-up and real person thrust into this crazy situation.
Of course there were some laughs, but that’s not what I’m taking away from this clearly very personal movie. It’s all of the things about being in comedy: working to get a laugh, bombing, writing material, whoring yourself for a shitty sitcom that made me intrigued. There will no doubt be the people that are shocked that it wasn’t hilarious on the level of Knocked Up but I say, fuck ‘em. Apatow did a great job at making me care about these funny people and their pretty serious lives.
B+
Notes:
-Great cameos from tons of comics
-Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn wrote a lot of the material Ira, George, and the
other fake stand-ups used in the movie. The “ball cleavage” throw-away line is right out of Posehn’s act.
-Mad props to Aziz Ansari for portraying RAAAAAAAAAANDY, AKA, Dane Cook
-Speaking of “Mad” there were three Mad Men references, two of them came in a row! They came in the form of cameos by Bryan Batt (played the agent) and Maggie Siff (played J-Date girl). The third reference I’m goin’ out on a limb but it was Ira’s real last name Wiener, but pronounced WHY-ner, like mad men creator Matthew Weiner.
-Sandler’s bit on the piano at the comedy club was heart breaking and surprisingly well directed by Apatow and Sandler’s speech at Thanksgiving made me really shocked at how Sandler really is the old school comic actor now, as he’s surrounded by the next generation.
-New thing I’m gonna do, it’s called what I think Jordan will give the movie. This is tough but I think he probably liked it a bit less than I did, lets say B-.
Leading up to this final installment in Apatow’s “trilogy” (40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up), we’ve learned that his films are often comprised of hilarious improve and great pop-culture references. This is not that type of movie. But that is not such a bad thing; well, maybe for the people who didn’t get the memo. For all our reader out there, Funny people is a DRAMA. Yes, they may say it’s a comedy or bend a little and say it’s a dramedy, but it is, in my mind, a drama. It may throw some people because it includes some of the funniest people in show business at the moment. It also happens to be about comedians so of course there will be jokes, but at the heart of Funny People is a story about mortality, loneliness, the price of fame, and cock jokes.
The story starts out with an famous comedic actor, George Simmons (Adam Sandler), finding out he has a rare form of leukemia. Hilarious, right? He starts doing stand-up again and really goes into the depths of his unhappiness (word on the street is that comedians are unhappy folk). He pines for his lost love (Leslie Mann) and even reaches out to an up-and-coming comic named Ira (Seth Rogen). Rogen is hired to write jokes and be his assistant, but quickly becomes Sandler’s confidant in this part of his life.
Luckily Sandler recovers from the disease and tries to get back with Mann who is currently married to hunky Aussie Clarke (Eric Bana). In this part of the movie, things seemed to feel dragged down by the courtship of Mann. But it was good to see things went the correct, logical direction rather than the typical uber-fantasy of the movies.
While the Mann courtship held the movie down and likely made it longer than it should have (a surprisingly common complaint amongst Apatow films even though I thought Knocked Up was perfect in length) the performances throughtout the movie were surprisingly strong. Leslie Mann did a great job and proves that she is not just there (but probably is) because she is married to the director (what a lucky motherfucker, I digress). Sandler proved touching and went beyond is wacky shaba-do’s. Rogen did a solid job and really sold me as a stand-up and real person thrust into this crazy situation.
Of course there were some laughs, but that’s not what I’m taking away from this clearly very personal movie. It’s all of the things about being in comedy: working to get a laugh, bombing, writing material, whoring yourself for a shitty sitcom that made me intrigued. There will no doubt be the people that are shocked that it wasn’t hilarious on the level of Knocked Up but I say, fuck ‘em. Apatow did a great job at making me care about these funny people and their pretty serious lives.
B+
Notes:
-Great cameos from tons of comics
-Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn wrote a lot of the material Ira, George, and the
other fake stand-ups used in the movie. The “ball cleavage” throw-away line is right out of Posehn’s act.
-Mad props to Aziz Ansari for portraying RAAAAAAAAAANDY, AKA, Dane Cook
-Speaking of “Mad” there were three Mad Men references, two of them came in a row! They came in the form of cameos by Bryan Batt (played the agent) and Maggie Siff (played J-Date girl). The third reference I’m goin’ out on a limb but it was Ira’s real last name Wiener, but pronounced WHY-ner, like mad men creator Matthew Weiner.
-Sandler’s bit on the piano at the comedy club was heart breaking and surprisingly well directed by Apatow and Sandler’s speech at Thanksgiving made me really shocked at how Sandler really is the old school comic actor now, as he’s surrounded by the next generation.
-New thing I’m gonna do, it’s called what I think Jordan will give the movie. This is tough but I think he probably liked it a bit less than I did, lets say B-.
Jordan's Review: Funny People
There is little doubt that Judd Apatow is a very funny man. What people seem to forget, however, is that he very adeptly gets at the real human emotion beneath the punch lines and quips his characters trade. The 40-Year-Old Virgin is hilarious on its face, but beneath the humor is a story about a lonely man yearning to find something to give his life meaning. Knocked Up is a story about two people struggling to fall in love, or determine whether that’s even a possibility, in the face of an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy. So it should come as no surprise that Apatow’s newest film, Funny People ,is not all about the laughs.
The movie opens with George Simmons (Adam Sandler) wandering through a life of vast riches made off of wildly successful and horribly unfunny movies, looking back at his stand-up roots and wondering where it all went wrong. His introspection is fueled by the discovery that he has a rare form of leukemia and is likely about to die. This leads him to try to break back into stand-up and to try and reconnect with Laura (Leslie Mann), “the one who got away.” After bombing a set at the Improv, Simmons meets Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) a struggling comedian looking for a break. Simmons hires Ira to write some jokes for him, and eventually to be his assistant. Ira and George are perfect foils—Ira is young, optimistic, and unabashedly enthused about the opportunity to open for Simmons, while George is aging, cynical, and unable to find joy except in ripping down others.
Ira lives with other young comedians, Leo (Jonah Hill) who is just finding his way on the stand-up circuit, and Mark (Jason Schwartzman) who can’t help but rub his newfound success on a less than stellar sitcom in his roommates face. Ira also pursues an abortive romance with the adorably acerbic Daisy (Aubrey Plaza), but his time is increasingly absorbed by George who realizes he is profoundly alone in his sickness.
Adam Sandler plays Simmons with subtlety and sadness—he knows he has made mistakes and squandered his life, and worries he may not have time to solve his problems. So he tries to make nice with his family, spend time with his “friends” (including cameos by Andy Dick, Paul Reiser, George Wallace, Norm Macdonald and Eminem) and win back his lost love, who is now married to Australian Clarke (Eric Bana) and has two delightful children (the increasingly impressive Apatow children).
Funny People examines the issues that plague comedians—the insecurities, the cynicism, the dark outlooks, and it isn’t always pleasant to watch. George Simmons is a profoundly unhappy man and uses his humor as a defense mechanism, cutting down others before they have a chance to see his flaws. Real, affecting, and at times ferociously funny, the movie never goes for the cheap laughs. It often allows us to feel the tensions of a comedian whose set is failing, and it never lets us forget what it is that makes funny people funny. If the movie has one flaw, it is that the movie has too many characters, and so often seems to be ignoring people we want to spend more time with. Plaza has created a hilarious and fascinating romantic interest, Schwartzman is perfectly arrogant in his moderate success, and Hill is flat out hilarious, yet each is often forgotten throughout the movies sprawling run time. The focus is on Simmons, but I can’t help but wish the movie had let us linger over the fantastic supporting cast for a bit longer. In the end, however, Apatow has made another very funny film, and one that allows us to question the roots of comedy, and the path we all take to find our own happiness.
Grade: A-
The movie opens with George Simmons (Adam Sandler) wandering through a life of vast riches made off of wildly successful and horribly unfunny movies, looking back at his stand-up roots and wondering where it all went wrong. His introspection is fueled by the discovery that he has a rare form of leukemia and is likely about to die. This leads him to try to break back into stand-up and to try and reconnect with Laura (Leslie Mann), “the one who got away.” After bombing a set at the Improv, Simmons meets Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) a struggling comedian looking for a break. Simmons hires Ira to write some jokes for him, and eventually to be his assistant. Ira and George are perfect foils—Ira is young, optimistic, and unabashedly enthused about the opportunity to open for Simmons, while George is aging, cynical, and unable to find joy except in ripping down others.
Ira lives with other young comedians, Leo (Jonah Hill) who is just finding his way on the stand-up circuit, and Mark (Jason Schwartzman) who can’t help but rub his newfound success on a less than stellar sitcom in his roommates face. Ira also pursues an abortive romance with the adorably acerbic Daisy (Aubrey Plaza), but his time is increasingly absorbed by George who realizes he is profoundly alone in his sickness.
Adam Sandler plays Simmons with subtlety and sadness—he knows he has made mistakes and squandered his life, and worries he may not have time to solve his problems. So he tries to make nice with his family, spend time with his “friends” (including cameos by Andy Dick, Paul Reiser, George Wallace, Norm Macdonald and Eminem) and win back his lost love, who is now married to Australian Clarke (Eric Bana) and has two delightful children (the increasingly impressive Apatow children).
Funny People examines the issues that plague comedians—the insecurities, the cynicism, the dark outlooks, and it isn’t always pleasant to watch. George Simmons is a profoundly unhappy man and uses his humor as a defense mechanism, cutting down others before they have a chance to see his flaws. Real, affecting, and at times ferociously funny, the movie never goes for the cheap laughs. It often allows us to feel the tensions of a comedian whose set is failing, and it never lets us forget what it is that makes funny people funny. If the movie has one flaw, it is that the movie has too many characters, and so often seems to be ignoring people we want to spend more time with. Plaza has created a hilarious and fascinating romantic interest, Schwartzman is perfectly arrogant in his moderate success, and Hill is flat out hilarious, yet each is often forgotten throughout the movies sprawling run time. The focus is on Simmons, but I can’t help but wish the movie had let us linger over the fantastic supporting cast for a bit longer. In the end, however, Apatow has made another very funny film, and one that allows us to question the roots of comedy, and the path we all take to find our own happiness.
Grade: A-
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