I'm seeing this tonight, so I'll post my thoughts once I'm back.

i'll post your thoughts for you

A.

Best film of the year.


Only a lot longer with a lot more adjectives. The end.

Haha

This is actually the least excited I've been about an Apatow film so far. It seems 'good' but not great, and I'm not a Sandler fan at all. So we'll see.

Hey Jim. The Red Wings lost. Change your picture.

Funny People is definitely another winner for Judd Apatow, but in his most ambitious project to date he also gives the audience too much of a good thing. This film is long. Incredibly long. So long, in fact, that some of its charm definitely wears off by the second half, and by the end of the sprawling two-and-a-half hour running time you'll likely leave the theater exhausted. In the Q&A session that was held before the film, Apatow explained that he had three different ideas for his next film - an expose on the life of comedians, a satire of Hollywood and celebrity culture and a story about chasing 'the one who got away' - and he decided to merge all of them together to create Funny People. The end result is a film that is both hilarious and heartfelt, but also tries to tell too many stories - which results in the inevitable problem of having several underdeveloped characters (a love interest for Seth Rogen's character Ira is one of the most disposable and useless characters I've seen in quite some time).

Now, with that initial statement out of the way, this is definitely the best comedy of the year and Judd Apatow's most mature film to date. It's a major change of pace for him, this film probably won't be remembered for its hilarious one-liners as Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin are. It's a sensitive and very realistic film that is as dramatic as it is hilarious. Adam Sandler, who I usually find quite grating and haven't truly liked in a film since 1998's The Wedding Singer, delivers what is hands-down his best and most emotionally honest performance ever. His trademark brand of immature humor isn't seen at all here, and he is completely believable as the cynical and flawed main character. Several scenes with Sandler are incredibly powerful and I wouldn't be surprised if he was up for award consideration for his work here. I was shocked at how good he was. Seth Rogen is also excellent, playing the film's most sympathetic and relatable character - he's hilarious and has fantastic chemistry with Sandler, which makes their friendship very believable. Leslie Mann doesn't appear until about an hour into the film, but once she does she makes her mark. In her largest role to date in an Apatow film, Mann tackles many of the more dramatic sequences head-on and is equally hilarious and moving. I thought the scene near the end where she watches the video of her child with Rogen and Sandler was one of the best moments in the film - it revealed so much about each character and featured almost no dialogue whatsoever. Eric Bana is fun in a smaller supporting role that develops near the climax. Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman are hilarious as Ira's roommates, two C-list comedians who make their living on a "Saved By The Bell"-esque sitcom. I appreciated how the screenplay took a lot of time to develop each of the central characters and how all of their dialogue and the actions they did felt very true-to-life. Now this summary may have made it seem that the film isn't laugh-out-loud hilarious. But it definitely is - I haven't laughed harder at a film this year. The trademark blend of awkward Apatow humor is out in full-force here, and in addition the standup sequences are brilliant.

Anyways, I would highly recommend Funny People despite it being overlong. It features some really brilliant performances, great writing and has a big heart. It's a great film and better than most comedies released these days, and with a good thirty minutes of editing or so it would have been brilliant. But I'll take a great overlong comedy over a short bad one any day. A-

What do you think are its Oscar nomination chances? Is it more of a comedy with dramatic elements or a funny drama aka dramedy.

It's a dramedy. I would classify Apatow's previous two films both as comedies with dramatic elements but this has a completely different tone than those projects. This is evident in the nostalgia-tinged opening credits and the resolution that occurs near the end most directly. The best comparison I can come up with is that it feels similar to James L. Brooks. It's not going to be remembered for drawing huge guffaws from the audience (although it definitely does on occassion). A lot of it is quite sad and moving.

And I could definitely see nods for Sandler (who deserves it) and the screenplay. I would say Leslie Mann but Supporting Actress seems like an incredibly competitive category this year so probably not. Rogen delivers what is by far his most charming performance but it's not as baity as the other two central roles.

I'll punch you in the mouth.

Funny, charming, and way too long? Sounds like a Judd Apatow movie to me!

So so close.

The first 4 hours were really really good, great even. The next 3 and half hours were okay, but the remaining 6 and half hours were really confusing. The critics are right, it is a James L Brooks film with lots of dick jokes. But its Spanglish James L Brooks, not As Good As It Gets James L Brooks. The downfall of the film was introducing the Marin County storyline. Bad idea.

But the first few sections were great. So I'll give it a B

I love Leslie Mann but the entire plot with her character pretty much ruined what could have been an amazing film. How they managed to rush that plotline in an 11 hour long film is beyond me.

Now, it's 11 hours long... but does it FEEL like 11 hours?

I actually like long movies, more bang for the buck.

But when the story switches to Marin County, you feel like you're digging in for the long haul. I didnt look at my watch mainly because I dont own a watch. But if I did, I would have.

It's baddddddddd. And pretentious. Oh, what a terrible, terrible shame this movie is!

I felt like I was watching Elizabethtown part II. Such is the level of bloat and lack of cohesion.

Adam Sandler has never been funnier in my opinion. He was absolutely terrific. The film itself is a little indecisive and could have used one more edit, but when they are joking its hysterical and when it goes dark you rightfully feel uncomfortable in theater, strong supporting cast. A+

The longest movie in history.

Like, it's decent. I laughed. It's not hilarious but it's often pretty funny. But it's also a mess. Awkward jokes, the length is painful, and they try to do wayyyy too much in this movie. Big disappointment.

good at times, great at times, awful at times. honestly the film was about 30 minutes too long and the jokes were just too hit or miss. Also, Sandler's character was just completely unlikeable in every aspect. The climax and ending of the film was also very anti climatic.

B

shouldn't you like it then?

o lol i c what u did there getluv

Seems makeshift liked this. But, then, he often seems to like messy, unwieldy things such as this beast.

How DARE you!!!

I'd be more inclined to use words like free-form and borderline experimental before any of those others, but you know...

I dunno, one of the elements I've always loved about Apatow's films is their flighty, loose, and effervescent nature. The 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up were both like this, but he seems to be more comfortable here and just lets it rip. I could have existed in this world for another three hours and not checked my watch once. Kaminski's work is absolutely beautiful, and when mixed with Apatow's seemingly innate ability to shine a 1000 watt light bulb inside our souls... I just found this to be a completely enthralling movie.

Oy, this movie was hella frustrating. The first hour or so is a winner in almost every aspect: genuinely hilarious comedy combined with emotional richness. For a while, Funny People looks like it's maybe going to be even better than Judd Apatow's last two movies, which I loved. Adam Sandler's performance is brilliant (even more impressive than his accomplishments in Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me), Seth Rogen is likable and assured, and the two actors develop a nice rapport. Then things just start to go wrong and we arrive at the section of the film spent in San Francisco. I was completely taken aback. Rogen may as well not have even been in the film during this part (the subplots for the character of Ira that Apatow lays the groundwork for earlier in the film are essentially dropped without explanation), and the relationship between Sandler and Leslie Mann, as written by Apatow, is utterly absurd. I adore Leslie Mann and she does good work in this movie but her character makes no sense. Nothing she does is believable or follows any sort of logic, and I was ultimately so put off and weirded out by the behavior of her character and her interactions with both George and her husband (Eric Bana) that the film completely soured for me. This movie is basically two movies in one: an enlightening dramedy about examining one's own existence, and a bizarre romance where no one roots for any person involved; the first one is what they should have stuck with the entire time, because by the time the second movie kicks in, things have soured. This film ends up being a bit of a chaotic mess, which is sad because it starts off so wonderfully. C+

Yeah, he's basically right.
I don't think it felt THAT long, but I checked my watch 5+ times (that's partly cause I'm a tad up-tight and have to know times and stuff) but it definitely felt too long and often rather draggy.
The first 70-80 minutes were the best of any film this year. Hands down. It was appropriately dramatic, wonderfully charming, and very funny. It was exactly what the film as a whole should have been. Damn near perfect.
The entire story-line with Leslie Mann's idiotic character was weak. Not dreadful, not even that bad, but it was convoluted, often dull, melodramatic, and unnecessary. The acting and directing was still solid, but the fact that it even existed was just a bad move. Note to everyone involved with the movie, if you're going to introduce a side plot that makes the movie very long, make it something that actually affects the film. If they cut this whole hour out, they could have replaced it with a much more effective 30 minute side plot that would have killed the length issues, and actually tie it together, rather than being irrelevant.
Still, a solid 4/5, and a place somewhere on my top 10, but it'll be bumped before long, and should have been soooo much better.

I loved this one! Judd Apatow redeems himself after the forced Knocked Up and returns to his feature debut brilliance from The Forty Year Old Virgin.

I enjoy the Meta-Movie Genre and am thrilled to see such fine entries this year, what with Whatever Works (why aren't more people going to see this terrific film?!?) and (500) Days Of Summer. Add to this the stellar performances of the lead actors (Adam, Seth, Leslie), the talented supporting actors (Eric, Jason, Jonah), the surprising character actors (Torsen, Maude & Iris) ,and the galaxy of melancholy cameos (!!!), and ya got yerself the beginnings of one of them there masterpieces.

Of course this'd all be for naught without a whippin' smart screenplay - - and fortunately Apatow delivers in spades with a miracle of a balancing act between the very human pathos and humor of the clown. All this played off against TRW personas of the players makes it almost too delicious! Just when I thought he'd pushed it too far with the central plot twist, it all came thunderin' home like the Sunset Limited used to into LA, and I saw that all was good...

Funny People is/are a lock for my Top Ten.


out of

I thought it was pretty damn good. It has some pacing issues (although I never looked at my watch) and there were a couple of closeups where I thought Apatow was trying way too hard to make it look and seem like he was making James L. Brooks film, but I think this is right up there with his previous two films. And it seems unlike most people I don't think the film missed a beat when they went up to San Francisco. It becomes a different and slightly more toned down (serious isn't the right word), but I thought it was the natural progression of where George would end up. And Ira needed to be there too have the final scene in the film. With no Ira in the second act, the ending is completely miserable and we would just wish for George's sake that he would've died in the first place. He at least now has Ira and can start over again.

Sandler's great; maybe his best effort since Punch Drunk Love, Rogen is very good, Mann's very good, and Bana uses his limited screen time well. As for Apatow, it may not be his best film, but if this is considered to be his "failure", his career is in pretty good shape. Can't wait to see what he does next.

***½