Secure Immaturity

Funny People functions much like Man on the Moon back in 1999. It provides it’s typecast main star to put in an Oscar worthy performance (that, like Man on the Moon, will NOT be provided a nomination); it manages to mix zany, obnoxious but necessary comedy (Man on the Moon is factual; Funny People involves stand up comedy) with drama; it offers a feeling of ‘what could have been’ as opposed to, ‘wow that was every bit as important, meaningful and poignant as it thought and said it was’.

Because like Man on the Moon, Funny People is a bold experiment that, in the end, kind of fails. It isn’t an absolute bomb in any way. I enjoyed all 14 hours of the movie. Much like a comedian not quite getting his point across, I was waiting for Funny People to deliver its punch line. It never does. It just kind of ends.

Funny People, by its initial set up, is a movie made and broken by it’s decisions throughout the movie. One move in one direction can capsize the production. Funny People eventually capsizes and the occupants swim for the surface with frantic energy and noble determination but can’t get up for that life saving air.

The movie is about George Simmons (Adam Sandler) whose movie projects and character-acts looks alarmingly like the actor playing the character. George is going to die and he is trying to figure out what to do with the remaining months of his life. Instead of reaching out to his family, George stays as aggressively selfish and mean as he always is with one exception: he let’s young Ira (Seth Rogen) into his life as an assistant/joke writer. Ira is a good guy (almost too good) and Ira tries to get George out of his funk and embrace the last days of his life.

SPOILER ALERT Needless to say, George ends up living and his revived love for his former girlfriend (Leslie Mann) leads to his pursuit of her even though she has a family and Ira is morally upset. This is the turn I was speaking about earlier. Judd Apatow, making some great dramatic steps here, decides to cut the movie in half: one part death movie, one part romantic dramedy. The first part works alarmingly well. Adam Sandler is. . .and I can’t believe I’m saying this. . .astounding. Someone known for such outrageous behavior and wild gyrations delivers near tears with his doomed face: its his subtlety that kills you. It is one of the best performances I’ve seen this year.

Seth Rogen, also trying to try something new, is refreshing as a thin, nice guy. He gets his requisite jokes in but he is mainly a sweet guy. This, in my mind, has saved him. I felt Rogen was getting overexposed and his act was getting tiring. Ira is not revolutionary but it shows, much like Hugh Grant maybe, that Rogen can switch personas with ease. The standard goofy roommates (Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill) are fine as is Eric Bana as an overly Australian Australian.

The error in casting is Leslie Mann, the director’s wife. Whenever a wife is cast as the dream girl/perfect girl, you run into sentimental problems. Mann exists as Sandler’s one glimpse at normal humanity. . .she needs to command the screen and enrapture the audience. She’s beautiful and has a certain acting style. . .but she has no presence to capture your heart, so why should the heartless bastard be all caught up? It’s the kind of nepotism that shows ‘yes, the director loves his wife. . .a lot!’ but doesn’t exactly fly with an audience who doesn’t go to bed with her each night.

The main issue is the second half of the story: the romantic dramedy. Yes, there is some nice material for a separate movie in there but by shifting to drama with comedy elements that means something to comedy with dramatic elements that has no impact on the characters or plot the movie loses its way. . .and for such a long running time, this can’t happen if interest is to be maintained.

The cameos make the picture: Andy Dick, Eminem/Ray Romano and Norm MacDonald make brief and hilarious appearances but others make somber, sad appearances as well that drive the drama (Paul Reiser comes to mind). In the end, the film is watchable and almost entirely enjoyable but has no rewatchability. It’s a one time experiment that is bold but doesn’t quite hit the mark.

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