Funny People Review

Originally Posted on August 20, 2009

Critical value: 7.5/10 Entertainment Value; 8/10

Written and directed by Judd Apatow, who produced Pineapple Express and Superbad, Funny People tells the story of George Simmons (Adam Sandler). Simmons is a popular and wealthy comedian who is diagnosed with an inoperable health condition and his desire to have a real friend leads him to hire a fairly new comedian, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) as his opening act.

Being a comedy/drama the film is generally able to mix its serious moments with more dramatic ones seamlessly. As the movie progresses it is revealed how lonely Simmons is and his relationship with Ira serves as testament to his sadness and also leads to several humorous moments.

My main issue with Funny People is that the swearing as well as the sex jokes seemed gratuitous at times. This film is definitely deserving of an R rating for the parents who were wondering whether or not to take their children. The sex jokes were funny at first but as the movie wore on they continued to pop up and I grew tired with the humour after a while.

Sandler and Rogen both have great chemistry and the acting throughout the film is great for the most part, aside from a certain scene that I thought could have been improved.

The film also has added entertainment since it appears to parody comedians as well. One character comments that Simmons is funny but yet his movies aren’t funny, which is a common occurrence with many comedians. There are also clips of a fictional show, “Yo teach” that appear to mock television sitcoms for their poor jokes.

Although the film is 2.5 hours long, I never felt like it dragged due to the interesting story and the various conflicts that appear throughout the film.

For those who like or dislike Adam Sandler I believe that this film is still worth a view in theatres.

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