Review of Funny People (2009) by Distant C — 11 Nov 2012

From raunchy comedy writer/ director Judd Apatow comes "Funny People". Apatow often manages to bring out surprising emotional depth between bromances, dirty jokes and humour and "Funny People" was no exception. It's almost a raunchy "Almost Famous" where young aspiring stand up comedian, Ira (Seth Rogen) gets a chance to be his hero, George Simmons' (Adam Sandler) assistant and learns that Sandler's life is not all it's made out to be. One thing you can appriciate about this film is that at least a quarter of it is actually watching stand up. And GOOD stand up. This film really gets you to know and like the characters who are surprisingly real and developed, such as the young and observant yet spirited Ira, the lonely rich guy George Simmons, Ira's two best friends/ roommates and fellow aspiring comedians (Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman have their own funny subplot), and ira's deadpan comedian love interest Daisy (Aubrey Plaza). Half of the comedy community is in this film (including brief appearances by Sarah Silverman and Ray Romano) and they all really show their comediac chops never holding anything back. Even if a character has 5 lines- they're five good lines. Plus, Adam Sandler's performance proves that when he puts his mind to it, he can be a pretty decent actor.

Please forgive my excessive uses of "raunchy".