Funny People

Plot synopsis:
George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is an extremely successful comedian and actor. But he is very self-absorbed, lonely and estranged from his family by choice. He is subsequently diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and is informed that traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation would be unlikely to benefit him, so he embarks on an experimental treatment with an 8% chance of response. Consequently, he falls into a depression and upon seeing old tapes of his standup days, he decides to return to his roots and do stand-up comedy.Ira Weiner (Seth Rogen) is an aspiring stand-up comedian who dreams of quitting his day job. George and Ira meet at a comedy club, where George unexpectedly takes the stage to deliver a dark routine. Ira is forced to follow and draws some laughs by mocking George's morbidity as he watches from the back. George calls Ira the next morning asking him to write jokes for him to perform at a MySpace corporate event.The event goes well and George hires Ira as an assistant. George informs Ira of his condition and Ira cares for George through the treatment. Eventually, Ira breaks down, begging George to tell people about his prognosis. While in the process of telling his friends, George is visited by his ex-fiancée, Laura (Leslie Mann). She is married to Clarke, who is cheating on her while away on business. She regrets leaving George and they reconcile.George sees his doctor and learns that the medicine has worked; he has no traces of the disease, but it could resurface. Ira is happy but George is unsure what to do with his life. He decides he wants a long-term relationship and calls Laura, but does not tell her the news. George and Ira go to San Francisco to perform; Laura meets them there. George makes Ira tell Laura during intermission that he is better. George later explains that he didn't want to jinx it. They embrace and she invites George and Ira to her house in Northern California.George and Ira spend time with his and her daughters. George and Laura sneak into the guest house, and George performs cunnilingus on her. Ira tells both daughters that George is healthy now. Clarke unexpectedly arrives home; Laura asks George and Ira to keep up the façade of George still being sick.In the morning, Clarke gives George a tearful goodbye. His daughters reveal that George is actually healthy. Clarke confronts Laura and suspects she is cheating. Laura tries to explain that George may not be entirely better and calls Clarke out on his infidelity so Clarke drives off. Laura decides to leave him. Ira thinks George should leave because it is not worth it to ruin a twelve-year marriage, but George threatens to fire him.The next day, George, Ira, and Laura watch video of her daughter Mable performing a song. Ira and Laura find the performance moving, but George thinks it's hilarious and offends Laura. Laura leaves for the airport to tell Clarke she is leaving him. Ira lies to George and follows her. Clarke tells Laura that he wants to give their marriage another try. Laura agrees and says her fling with George was just a flirtation. Ira gets caught by Clarke trying to sneak away. Laura is forced to tell Clarke she slept with George.Clarke chases George out of his house, throwing fists at him. George asks Laura to explain but she sides with her husband. Heading back to Los Angeles, George berates Ira for his betrayal and fires him. Ira fires back at George for not learning from his experience and that his insensitivity hasn't changed.Ira goes back to his old job. George attends Ira's stand-up and watches him being much more confident on stage. The next day, George finds Ira at work and admits that even though he is no longer sick, his attitude needs improvement. George offers Ira jokes he wrote down, proving he is making an attempt to become a better person.

Tags: bleak, dramatic, comedy, humor

Review:
But I suppose that doesn't get people in to see the movie.After all, the film stars Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen (who have wonderful rapport), among many other, uh, funny people, and is written and directed by Judd Apatow, the director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." Of course the trailers have been playing up this angle but, as my wife commented, that's like marketing "Schindler's List" as "From the director of 'E.T.' and 'Jaws'." It doesn't tell you much about the movie you are about to see.This beef aside, what you will see is a very mature drama (yes, I said mature despite the rampant penis jokes) reminiscent of the best work of Hal Ashby and Cameron Crowe.
Sandler proves once again that he is a fine actor, and his performance as successful movie star/comedian George Simmons is tonally similar to his fantastic work in "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Reign Over Me." A very isolated man made rich by a number of films that look like rejected Wayans Brothers ideas, George lives in a castle of a house, complete with an indoor and an outdoor pool.
They have a big house and two beautiful and funny daughters played by Apatow's and Mann's real-life daughters Maude and Iris, who also played Mann's and Paul Rudd's daughters in "Knocked Up." George and Laura reenter each other's lives and try to pick up the pieces, much to the dismay of the reserved, more morally-centered Ira.There is an awful lot of movie to cover, so I will stop there.
The thing I appreciated most about "Funny People" is that Apatow takes huge risks with the ambitious goal of "making a very serious movie with twice as many jokes" as his previous films.
That he more often than not achieves his goals is a remarkable feat, and while "Funny People" isn't a great movie, it shows you a fascinating side of show business, and more importantly, it makes one believe that we can look forward to a wonderful and varied body of work from an original and, maybe someday, great filmmaker."Funny People"Starring: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, many comedians as themselves.
His character, dying from a rare blood disease, is brought up almost immediately, so the movie moves right away.George decides to go back to the stage after making a handful of truly bad movies (An obvious look back at Adam's acting career) and bombs on stage, but Ira, played by Seth Rogen in a different kind of role, gets some big laughs.
She has a husband (Eric Bana, in a truly funny role) and two kids (Iris and Maude, Mann and Apatow's real life children), while George lives a life less fulfilling.The movie takes a real backseat to conventional rules of movies; There is maybe, at a maximum, of two real clichés in this movie, one mentioned in this review already, and the other for good measure.The movie feels a little long winded, running at nearly 2 and half hours, and the characters are sad, but interesting.
Seeing Adam playing a shadow of himself is certainly a depressing site, and Rogen doing all he can for the man that he admires, since he was a kid, no less, is even better, proving that Rogen isn't a one trick pony, hopefully making this a bit more noticeable for his performance in The Green Hornet next year.The movie also has some great performances from Jason Schwartzman as an actor starring in a horrible television sitcom and Jonah Hill as a competing comedy performer.But there has to be a reason why this movie is ranked so low, and it could almost be said of the running time, but its coming right back to my first paragraph about ironic titles in movies.
This is a movie not sitting at the dinner table with all the Apatow produced movies of the last three or four years; like George, he's sitting at his own table, not quite like everyone else.Perhaps now that I've seen the movie for what it truly is, a drama with some funny parts in it, I can now go back and see if maybe I can look at it any differently.Here is an Apatow film different from anything he's directed, written or produced lately, and deserves to be seen at least once, and while people will see this and perhaps, not laugh as hard, here is hoping Apatow doesn't lose face and give up on this kind of writing.
Definitely not what I was expecting from Judd Apatow after his previous fantastic movies - and I knew I wasn't getting another "Knocked Up".Funny people is a rather boring, depressing story with unlikeable and unmotivated characters that give you the feeling that they weren't having any fun making this movie.
Judd Apatow's third directorial feature, "Funny People" starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann, is not really about the titled "Funny People", but more about how their lives have shaped them, and how they cope and try to change things.Yes, the writer/director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" has turned in a decidedly more dramatic direction than his previous features, but if you are willing to go in with an open mind, the film does not disappoint.
It is a touching, at times even heart-wrenchingly painful film, mainly because the realistic portrayal of its characters, and how corruptible they show the human condition as being.The film begins with George Simmons (Sandler), a wildly popular comedian who has done everything from stand-up to cruddy movies (including "Mer-Man" and the baby-body-swapping epic "Re-Do"), and has become quite shallow and empty from fame and fortune.
Now, he has been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, but because he is so starstruck by George, he doesn't necessarily recognize that the friendship is only one-way.The rest of the movie is a heartfelt struggle as George tries to rebuild his life, despite his life-threatening illness, including coming back into contact with "the one who got away" (Leslie Mann in a fantastic performance), while Ira must come to terms with the fact that his new friend still has a lot of growing up to do.The film is quite exquisitely written and directed, and the characters come off as perfectly real.
Sandler once again delivers a jaw-dropping dramatic role, as he had previously done in films such as the new classics "Punch Drunk Love" and "Reign Over Me." Rogen also shows he has some chops, delivering quite a stirring performance, and proving he isn't "just another funny guy." Mann has some amazing scenes herself, and in a way reminded me of people from my own past.
Other supporting characters, including Hill, Shwartzman, Eric Bana as Mann's husband, Apatow's children Maude and Iris, Aubrey Plaza as Rogen's potential love interest and even the RZA as Chuck, Rogen's co-worker, all deliver strong performances.The movie also has numerous comedian cameos, as people who know and love George, including Sarah Silverman, Norm MacDonald, Charles Fleisher, Ray Romano and Andy Dick, all portraying themselves, which gives the movie another breath of realism.Apatow's growth as a filmmaker is also shown, as this is certainly his most "cinematic" movie to date.
it was certainly the quickest two-and-a-half-hours I've experiences in a long time.Overall, the film is going to turn a lot of people off, with it's main focus being on drama, and not comedy, but if you are willing to open your mind, you will find an amazing tale to learn from and laugh with.For me, a perfect 10 out of 10, one of the best movies of the year so far..
There are no parts in it that I thought they could cut, or at least that I would have wanted to have been cut, and I guess that's how Apatow felt too.All of the characters served their purpose and had good character development, most of them great.Seth Rogen's character of Ira was my favorite, I think (I loved his eagerness in doing the right thing.
Nobody in the movie was likable (except for Seth Rogan's character) and the addition of Apatow's family in the flick turns it into a heavy production version of a home video.Funny People follows a famous and extremely successful comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) learning that he is dying from a rare disease, and his only hope for survival relies on a series of experimental medicines that has a track record of not working.
But little by little Ira realizes that George's life isn't clean-cut pretty, and that George isn't the best human being, even if he is the best comedian.The biggest problem with Funny People is that the film is supposed to be a mix of comedy and drama.
Funny People can be jumbled in; it was an epic massive dramedy that is much weaker in terms of writing, quality, and execution than 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and nearly every movie with Apatow's name.One can only wonder how much better and more focused Funny People would be if family wasn't involved in the filming.
Enter his latest foray of writing/directing, and a film I clamoured for advance tickets for: Funny People.George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is an aging comedian, hating the cards God has dealt him.
With his life slowly fading, George hires Ira on as his assistant to write jokes for him, and begins to try and make something of his life before it ends.While it sounds more like a drama than a comedy, Funny People does pack in the laugh-out-loud moments Apatow comedies are known for.
you'll be laughing at potty humor, and at the same time you'll be watching a beautiful story about characters you might normally take for granted.sure, eric bana is a little over the top, and a few emotional moments here and there aren't as strong as apatow probably thought they would be...
Apparently more than the cast of this whole movie.This is a great example of dumbed down comedy - if you thought it was funny, you're probably stupid.Remember that boy/girl in grade primary who said 'penis' for the first time, and everyone in the class laughed?
And we've seen everything here before and done much better: Adam Sandler trying to prove his dramatic muscle, Seth Rogen as hapless eyewitness to a band of juveniles posing as adults, loving close-ups of Leslie Mann and her daughters, semi-autobiographical details of Apatow's career in comedy.Obviously, Apatow couldn't step away from the work w/enough objectivity to cut anything: There are multiple series of affectionate but pointless cameos designed as "thank yous" to Apatow's real life mentors, side characters who promise to figure later but whom Apatow can only cut as he chokes under the "Love Actually syndrome" of too many sub-plots, ephiphanies, and life-lessons.
Judd Apatow has such a proud back catalogue of comedy hits, proving his talents as both a director and produce But it's difficult to live up to your fans expectations with such a grand reputation, but Funny People this time, is just a little different.
The film is clearly a drama even though it centers around stand up comedy.George (Adam Slander) is a very successful, famous and rich comedian who learns that he has a blood disorder similar to leukemia and he'll most likely die in a short amount of time.
This is not a bad film, and I think the premise is great, the problem here is that the movie is very,very uneven.The direction of the film changes a few times, sometimes it feels like its going on the right direction and sometimes it just falls flat.As I said, this is more a drama then a comedy, but the writing is what you usually see in the late genre; the characters are two dimensional and poorly written, specially the main character George who towards the end of the movie seems like a completely different person.
The stand up routines were pathetic (I also heard that were improvised by the cast, which saddens me), and the audiences in the movie laughed while the audience in my theater sat there, wondering "Why is that funny?" Despite being hilarious in their own ways, Rogen, Sandler, and Hill were cursed with scripted dialogue that was incredibly dry, predictable, and just downright disappointing.
I think I laughed 3 times during the entire film.I am not a big Judd Apatow fan but I liked "Super Bad" and "Forgetting Sara Marshell." Unfortunately, "Funny People" does not have any characters I could relate to and it just was not funny enough..
Minus the gratuitous male genitalia jokes, "Funny People" is about as far from anything Judd Apatow has directed or produced since he hit it big with "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Finally collaborating with longtime friend Adam Sandler, Apatow takes the creative license that his reputation as comedic master of the decade has afforded him and makes a more serious film about funny people.
But with more seriousness, the funniness must be more effective and that's hard in an unprecedented 146-minute-long comedy just sort of about a comedian's life.Sandler plays himself in the form of a fictional character named George Simmons, a comedian who hit it big, made some ridiculous movies and now is re-evaluating himself in the face of news that he has a rare form of leukemia.
"Funny People" is Judd Apatow's comedy Bar Mitzvah, which is to say a mature, mostly logical story about real adults, though to extend the metaphor, he sings flat on a couple of those Torah passages towards the end.The worst you can say about the film is that it's still a work of indulgence.
"Funny People" can hardly be said to be boring despite its length, and didn't wear me down nearly as quickly as "Transformers 2" or "Public Enemies." Apatow challenges the established filmic conventions of comedy, letting it play as more of an amusing drama than a faux-dramatic comedy.The film stars Adam Sandler as a version of himself called George Simmons, a miserable world famous comedian and actor diagnosed with a usually-terminal offshoot of leukemia, who hires a middling young comedian (Seth Rogen) to assist him both at home and on the stage.Sandler plays more curmudgeony than audiences might be used to, though it's a perfect foil to Rogen's absolute earnestness, and the supporting cast (Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill, Aubrey Plaza, Aziz Ansari) is terrific as well.
But when a movie like Funny People comes along with the push as a high end comedy drama, I'm sorry.
Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen star in "Funny People," a movie that is indeed about the strangely fascinating lives of several stand-up comedians in Los Angeles and contains a great many funny one-liners, but it's also about life, love, friendship, and trying to get through hard times one joke at a time.That the movie is written and directed by Judd Apatow, doesn't that just make your teeth want to fall out?
(The scene with Eminem is so incredibly well-written and acted by the rapper that either way you fall out laughing at the violent sexual aggression present in the humor.) And lastly, in a movie about penis and fart jokes, comedienne Daisy (Aubrey Plaza) provides an interesting contrast to her male counterparts."Funny People" is, in my opinion, Apatow's best film yet.
The director should forgot that people come to this kind of movie to laugh.It ends up being neither a comedy or a drama.A very bad dramady if can call this one.I guess he was trying to satisfy his creative need to move away from comedies or prove he can direct serious stuff.Utterly failing in the attempt.On a positive note were the performances.Sandler did a excellent Job.best VJ.
Watch the First Hour and a Half, Then Turn it Off. I'll admit I know this wasn't a typical Sandler movie as the near death experience added a bit of drama, and at first most of the characters were very likable and funny.
Names from real life such as Les Dawson and Harry Cooper and even Eric Morecambe spring immediately to mind, a film like that featuring the real folk who suffered and yet still made us laugh would have brought audiences in by the busloads.This was a desperately poor movie and while Knocked Up and 40 year old Virgin just about entertained a wider audience, 'Funny People' truly failed.
Hand on Heart, then I wasn't really expecting much from this movie, as I don't really think Adam Sandler is funny anymore, and Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill never were funny.The comedy in "Funny People" was forced and never really got up to a point where it brought about any laughs from me.
How can a movie starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, and Jason Schwartzman, and directed by Judd Apatow not be funny?
'Funny People' revolves around stand up comedian George Simmons(Sandler).One day he finds out that he has a rare disease, so he doesn't have too long for this world.Then he meets Ira(Rogen) who is willing to write some jokes for George and help him with his act.All goes well until George falls for his ex girlfriend.I went to see this movie with 2 of my friends who thought the movie wasn't very good.To tell you the truth, hearing from them that this movie wasn't good actually shocked me.How could people not like this movie?
The appearance of Eric Bana towards the end of the movie as Mann's cheating passive-aggressive Aussie husband comes as a boost as he is very good, although by this point you are wondering why new characters are being introduced to a movie which should probably have finished by now.Overall, 'Funny People' is a film that is worth watching, particularly if you are a fan of the two main stars, Apatow's previous work or if you are relatively open-minded about your viewing.
What 'Funny People' tells the story of is a famous comedian named George Simmons, played here by Adam Sandler, an old friend of Judd Apatow.