Review of Funny People (2009) by Josh T — 20 Jan 2013

*Spoiler alert*.

I went into this movie expecting a light hearted look at life through the eyes of two of my favorite comedians, Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler. What I got instead was a dark and depressing look at death. The movie starts off promisingly enough, with clips of Sandler's early stand up from when he was a kid, home movies, and SNL bits. Then it goes a little downhill with a doctor explaining to Sandler that he's going to die. Not that we didn't know this, but man, right in the beginning of the movie?

We then see Rogan doing stand up. He does his usual "Awkward-teenage-Jew-in-a-30-year-olds-body" routine, which is funny I've got to admit. After more stand up, seeing into Rogans past and weird cameos, I thought I was in for a great comedy, maybe not as good as either of their other movies, but fun nonetheless.

Boy was I wrong. The movie just kind of dies in the beginning of the second act, literally. Sandler is becoming paranoid, depressed, and angry, Rogan can't get a girl if his life depended on it, and Judd Apatow's wife in a starring role is just useless. The ending's a little better, but I left the theater feeling depressed and tired...and hungry.

The movie did succeed in telling a long told story, "Live your life as best you can". But thats not enough to bring this movie to even a "B" rating. One thing it does well, though, is cameos. There's more cameos in here then in almost anything. Well, maybe except Last Action Hero (Geez, did I really just make that kind of reference?). I especially love the interaction between Eminem and Ray Ramano. It has nothing to do with the movie, but seeing them together just makes me laugh. This movie has it's ups and downs (mainly downs) but the first act is great. So pop in the DVD, watch for 30 minutes, and then turn it off.