PHILIP BARRETT: Sometimes, one can expect too much out of a film. It’s not the fault of the film itself, but more on the audience and trailers. The Matrix sequels are the best, recent example of this as most were left generally disappointed. Time at this point has not been kind to either of them as most still revile them. It’ll be interesting to see if Funny People suffers from the same fate as it has a good premise and a very capable actor in Adam Sandler. This should have been a great film, and for an hour it is. However, what should have been a passing of the torch quickly turns into an exercise for one’s tolerance with dick jokes.
ERIK BUCKMAN: Besides The 40 Year Old Virgin, I’m not much of a fan of Judd Apatow’s work. Cock joke after balls joke in movies filled with characters who are either socially retarded, obsessed with chods or are infatuated with “gettin’ some.” It’s like repeatably attending high school reunions and watching your old friends revert back to their 16-year-old selves while bemoaning going bald.
That’s especially the case in Judd’s latest. Funny People is a bloated dramedy which, again, is filled with selfish and insular jerks. Instead of blaming it on PR, the blame goes squarely on Apatow for creating a movie with a runtime that is three minutes shorter than the theatrical version of Apocalypse Now (thanks Richard Roeper…for once) for no reason except to tell more wacky, wacky anal jokes. It could have been endearing. I couldn’t tell because film is stuffed with his patented dick and fart jabs made by his merry band of man-children.
If it was pity for Sandler’s character, George Simmons (who is playing Adam Sandler), that Apatow wanted, I’m wondering why he was made to be an asshole.
PHILIP: I don’t know if it’s PR or that I want to blame someone for this film not reaching it’s potential. The ingredients are there with Adam Sandler playing a sympathetic version of himself coupled with a very intriguing premise. In addition, he has long time Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski at his disposal. But The Buckman is probably right that the blame is on Apatow for stretching this film out longer than it needed to be. While the first hour is nearly flawless (dick and ball jokes aside), the second slows to a crawl and essentially pushes Seth Rogen to the side so we can focus on what ends up being a pointless trip to San Francisco so George Simmons can try to win back Leslie Mann. This needed to be sprinkled throughout the film and not cluttered toward the end of it.
BUCKMAN: The film grew tired after after the first hour and 45 minutes. Credit is given to Judd Apatow for attempting to, somewhat, step away from his shag-carpeted box but his priority of easy and boring vulgarity over substance turns Funny People into Douchey People.
PHILIP: Pretty much, and it doesn’t help that this is also where the funny leaves the film. I think now the fault isn’t so much in Apatow’s direction (which is, actually, decent) but in the plotting of his story. Again, the stuff with Laura should have come sooner. We could still end up at the same resolution and not be half as bored.
BUCKMAN: Apatow couldn’t sacrifice any of his precious blue jokes to help advance his message, which is apparently that people really and truly love celebrities.
Funny People‘s focus is too self-absorbed for viewers to enjoy without checking the time over and over.
PHILIP: And check the time a lot of them did. I’m also not sure what message Apatow wanted to convey. Did he want to remind us we need celebrities? Did he want to tell us that they have problems too? The film leans more toward telling us that being a celebrity can’t replace the real things that matter in life. Sadly this all gets muddled in the film’s third act which doesn’t exactly end on a happy note.
It’s really tough to say that Funny People is a bad film because it’s too likable. In fact, it’s a decent film that for the first hour is Apatow’s best work to date. I’m fine with getting to know the characters and relating to a good portion of them, even George Simmons. Where Funny People falters aside from wanting to tell every dick joke known to man is when it crams too much into it’s last hour. Leslie Mann’s Laura is given no time to lament over her choice of George or Clarke (Eric Bana) which makes the ultimate resolution rushed. It may not be so much that this film falters in it’s third act in that it tries to do too much with it’s last hour and a half. The jokes are funny, but honestly I couldn’t remember what I’d laughed at when I walked out.
At the end of the day, we’re left with a film that’s good, but not great. It wants to be great, and it should be given the talent and potential. Maybe time will be kinder to Funny People, but for now, it should be chalked up as a ‘what could have been.’
Philip’s Grade –
Rating: 
Buckman’s Grade – Rating:
