" Are you mad that you died at the end of Die Hard? "

Funny People

Funny People is a film about longtime comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) who becomes diagnosed with a terminal health condition. Simmons is forced to evaluate his life, causing him to hire an up-and-coming comedian, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) as his assistant, who in turn becomes his closest friend. Simmons soon realises that the biggest regret in his life was losing Laura (Leslie Mann) the "one" that got away, causing Simmons to try and win her back.

I had looked forward to seeing this movie for a few years, knowing that it was based on Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler's own lives trying to break into the world of stand up comedy. The story itself had such great potential but it was evident early on that it was not living up to its potential. The movie was advertised as a comedy and drama which given the serious themes and backdrop of stand up gigs would seem to fit however the movie was neither funny or particularly moving.

Writer and director Judd Apatow has been involved in countless movies over the past few years, which have all one way or another focused on sex. That's not to say I don't like Apatow's work, most of the time I find his work funny especially The 40 Year Old Virgin, but his work can be a little hit and miss. Unfortunately this movie is a miss. The movie just isn't funny and for a movie about comedians it was a bit of a problem.

The movie portrays Wright as having trouble performing as a stand up comedian and with the guidance of Simmons eventually finding his mojo on stage. However Wright's comedy is crass and unintelligent even when he has supposedly found his place. While the famous Simmons shows no evidence of ever producing comedy worthy of his fame. Perhaps it's understandable that he has lost his way due to the shock of his illness but there were plenty of opportunities for flashbacks to his past glory displaying some quality stand up comedy. I understand that telling brutally honest jokes and stories regarding sex can shock the audience and can be an effective form of comedy, but in this movie it is not effective.

This movie had such great potential and I feel it could have been a great movie, however the character of Simmons is so detestable with significantly minor character developments, I was left wondering why it took two and a half hours for him to change so little. The movie is too long and feels as if it was more like two different movies stuck together in an unsuccessful manner. On a positive note the cameos were very funny especially that of Ray Romano and Eminem and they made a strong point of the difficulties dealing with fame, however the themes were not explored in enough detail leaving me wanting more emotion and more humour!

Being a fan of both Sandler and Apatow I was very disappointed with this film, mainly because I could see how it could be an excellent movie. Maybe my expectations were just a little too high.