Movie Review: Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler Team Up in Funny People

"Funny People" is Judd Apatow's most ambitious feature to date. Like many of the serious endeavors of beloved funny men, from Charlie Chaplin to Jerry Lewis, Apatow's new dramatic work has not been met with great admiration. I wouldn't quite say that the fault is that he's a bad dramatic storyteller, however, but rather that he doesn't know how to stop being Judd Apatow. While all of his directorial works have been laced with melodrama, this one is unquestionably his most serious - which, of course, causes problems when Jonah Hill needs to talk about the breasts of Hermione from the Harry Potter series.

Nearly everyone has pointed out that "Funny People" is two movies in one, and that is not debatable. The first is Apatow's take on "Almost Famous", set in the world of stand up comedy, and the second is something more reminiscent of a James L. Brooks picture.

Adam Sandler plays George Simmons, who audiences will quickly pick up on as Sandler's alterego. Simmons is one of the most familiar faces in Hollywood, and he's built a legacy on crappy popcorn movies with absurd gimmicks. Some of these films, like "Merman" and "Re-Do", could just as easily be replaced with "The Waterboy" and "Little Nicky".

Early on, Simmons is informed that he has a rare blood disease. The only person whom he can call is his ex-girlfriend, Laura (Leslie Mann), but she's not too enthused to be hearing from him after a bad break-up on account of George's cheating. When Simmons debuts a new stand-up routine, he meets an aspiring comedian named Ira Wright (Seth Rogen). He offers Ira a position as his assistant and writer, which Ira takes without hesitation - but Ira's youthful optimism is nearly shattered by witnessing his idol's self-absorbtion.

The film eventually becomes a story of Simmons attempting to win back Laura, despite her being married with two kids to her Australian husband (Eric Bana). What works in the film is Apatow's mature screenplay that avoids many cliches - Simmons and Laura are not, in fact, the perfect couple. The only one who knows it immediately is Ira.

Although the film has severe pacing issues, I admired both it's intelligent writing and the performances of Sandler, Rogen, and Mann. We've seen Sandler hold his own with good dramatic performances in "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Spanglish", but Rogen shows more depth than he has yet in his young career. While his unmistakable look and voice may prevent him from tackling more serious roles, he has much more to offer than playing foul-mouthed burnouts. Leslie Mann, who tends to be a great supporting performer, is finally given a large amount of screentime to display her irresistible charm.

The second half of the film is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it puts a complete halt into the momentum established in the first. There are two good films here, but put together it just feels a bit awkward. That being said, however, I found "Funny People" to be another good, if uneven, addition to Apatow's resume.