Funny People

IMBd Summary: “When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship cause him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.”

I have to admit that this review may be a little biased, as I am a HUGE fan of almost everything Judd Apatow touches. 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up are certainly on my list of favorite movies of all time, which is really saying something considering how many movies I have watched over the years ;).
That being said, I loved Funny People. It contained the usual Apatow style of combining the raunchy with the touching, the serious with the hilarious. This movie did contain more serious than his previous movies, but it really worked well. Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler were perfect in the main roles (although I am sure that they were written for them). In fact, this is probably the best real acting Adam Sandler has done since Spanglish. He relied les son his over-the-top antics and portrayed someone with conflicting emotions about life and death very well. The relationship between Adam (George) and Seth (Ira) seems very genuine and real, never forced.
Some of my favorite scenes in the movie come from Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman. They are all comedians rooming together in LA, and in typical twenty-something guy fashion have some great (albeit raunchy at times) conversations. Since I am about 10 mentally, these types of situations always bring about big laughs. Leslie Mann and Eric Bana are also great in their respective supporting roles as Adam’s ex and her husband. Leslie Mann always does a great job, and her and Judd’s kids reprise their roles as Leslie’s on screen kids in this movie. They are adorable.
There were a few slower parts in this movie, so it is not without fault. Out of Judd’s big 3, this would be my least favorite. It just wasn’t AS funny as some of his other work and was quite long (over 2 hours), so it meant a little down time. I also wished that they would have spent more time on Seth Rogan’s love interest. It seemed a little thrown together and the girl (played by Aubrey Plaza) never had any substantial character development. I do admit that the yearning for a more substantial love story might just be the girl in me coming out ϑ
Overall I really enjoyed this film. It will be one that I buy for our ever growing DVD/Blu-Ray library next to our other Apatow favorites.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.