Review of Funny People (2009) by Chads. — 31 Jul 2009

Influential film critic Pauline Kael had this to say about SNL alumnus Adam Sandler: "I have to say, I don't get Adam Sandler at all. I don't understand what makes him funny to people." As actor George Simmons, Sandler uses his alter-ego as an exemplar to reflect back on a filmography that he might not be terribly proud of.

Even George's own father infers bafflement about his son's comedic appeal when he brings up Jackie Gleason's name. After extolling the virtues of the late comedian, the father patronizes his son by adding that he's funny also.

All George ever wanted to do was make his father laugh, he confides in Ira(Seth Rogen). But by the looks of it, as George and the folks lounge poolside on his palacial estate, he failed. Dispersed throughout "Funny People", we see clips of the same Hollywood junk that the real-life actor foists upon the public on a regular basis.

"Redo", a film that George derisively calls the "baby picture" to reporters, is the cause of his sheepish facade when he's forced to watch it with Laura's younger daughter on DVD.

After so many forgettable comedies, "Funny People" might be the kind of film that George would want to make after getting a clean bill of health from his doctor. Joining Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punchdrunk Love" and James L.

Brooks' "Spanglish", this latest serious effort by Sandler acknowledges the binary at work whenever the generational comic takes on a non-comedic role. Although his last two ventures into serious film underperformed at the box office, assuming that Sandler and George Simmons are one and the same, commercial failure probably wouldn't add to the self-loathing and self-doubt that a "Merman"(George's film) or a "Little Nicky"(Sandler's film) would cause an actor with serious daddy issues.