Review of Funny People (2009) by Cameron J — 18 Aug 2012

Few film titles have the guts to make a promise like this film's title, but shoot, they sure did deliver on the "Funny People" in the title, or at least they would have, were it not for the fact that this film gets really deep, which is exactly why it's just so good. Of course, if this film was less straight-faced and more straight foward as a comedy, then it would have lived up to the title, as this film is riddled with funny people, or at least some of them are mostly funny. Nowadays, Adam Sandler has been hit-or-miss, and watching Eric Bana try to act sometimes stops being funny and just gets pretty sad. Man, the guy can't act to save his life, but hey, I'll give it to him that he knows how to pick good films (Which are partially good because they don't give him any material to mess up, which still doesn't stop him from slipping up at some point during a passable performance), as 2009 further proved, because first he was a black stain on "Star Trek", and now, he's a black stain on this film, and they barely use him, so that makes it all the better. Wow, whether it delivers on the promises made in the title or not, this film delivers quite a bit to one degree or another, as well it should, because, seriously, why is this comedy two-and-a-half hours? So yeah, this is essentially a dramedy epic or at least it has the illusion of being that, going padded out by random joke after random joke, or in other words, suffering from "Michael Bay Syndrome". Oh well, it's still a really good film, and certainly better than a Michael Bay film (I mean, I like them just fine and all, but Mike Bay is maybe a little bit too insane), though if ceaseless padding through comic relief doesn't work in Michael Bay's "epics", then you better believe that, well, it works quite a bit better in this film, being that it's actually a comedy. Still, the point is that, as really good as this film is, it definately needed some tightening up on the comedy, because this routine gets to be a touch stale after a while.

Judd Apatow directs this film well enough to where the moments of tacked-on humor don't infringe so much upon the film's depth that the film is rendered tonally uneven, yet there's no getting around the flaw that this film is too funny, or is at least too attemptedly funny, for its own good, pulling that old Judd Apatow trick of forcing in improv humor and dialogue or whatever almost every time it finds the opportunity, which not only slows down the momentum of the drama when it falls into play, but halts the momentum of the entire film, in general, which would be more forgivable were it not for the fact that this event happens frequently throughout this two-and-a-half-hour film, which partially claims its unnecessarily sprawling length through the considerable looseness that leaves either humor or just general dialogue to run on a little too long and get rather repetitious. Many of the film's shortcomings lay in what should have been laid upon the cutting room floor, yet it's not so much the looseness in the editing that leaves this film to ultimately fall from grace and potential, as much as its the gaping looseness in the story structure. Disregarding the excessive looseness in the editing department, the film's story takes much more of its sweet time than it should, providing too much exposition and filler, yet not enough bite behind it to compensate, while additional damage comes from, of all things, aspects that are much more slapdashed, rather than overdrawn. With all of the story's excessive padding, there remain only a few, yet extremely significant spots where the film really forces in a highly crucial, story-shifting event with limited, if any build-up, thus throwing off its impact, as well as the film's evenness, as there's no suddently dropping major piece of exposition amidst overdrawn filler without throwing off momentum, something that this film could have, and seriously should have had. This story is a worthy one, yet with all of the looseness in story filler and all of the suddenness in a few crucial pieces of exposition, the film begins to wander, when it could have put its sprawling runtime to good use and explored more depth. Yeah, yeah, I know this is a Judd Apatow film starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen and all, so lord knows I'm not asking Merchant Ivory or anything, yet this film does deserve better, and were it tighter in both editing and story, with more flesh-out, evenness, bite and, shoot, just for good measure, subtlety in the humor, it very well could have been solid. Nevertheless, the film rewards quite considerably, maybe not striking even close to as deeply as it should have, but still striking, delivering on most of the sharp humor that you want, as well as a bit of the depth you would hope for, and the selling of that is certainly helped by the fact that the film is, in quite a few area, with the makings of a quality picture.

Evidently, Steven Spielberg turned around one day sometime in 2008, thus giving Janusz Kamiński the opportunity to break out of his cage and escape just long enough to hop on board this project as cinemaotgrapher, and it's a good thing that he did, for although this film isn't at all the stunner quite a few of the Spielberg films that Kamiński shoots are, it boasts a consistently handsome glow and detailing, with occasions in which the right environment and lighting falls into place to present the opportunity for some truly gorgeous shots. On top of that, Kamiński keeps scope at a certain broadness, which I know doesn't sound all that special, and when you see it in the film, you may have difficulty noticing outside of an emotional level, yet moderate broadness in Kamiński's shots manages to absorb the environment in an immersive fashion that leaves you to fall into this lively and dynamic world in a very entertaining fashion, while the aforementioned clever lighting and color adds a tenderness to the film that compliments both its lightheartedness and depth to supplement dramatic depth in a very subtle, yet difference-making fashion, much like the soundtrack. The soundtrack of this film is all but entirely comprised of smoother tunes, from the good old fashion classic, to the dull, artificial and rather cheesy contemporary misfires (I miss good music), so the actual tracklist on the film is hit-or-miss, yet what makes the soundtrack so good good is how it is played in the context of the film, as it gives the film a kind of somber spirit that both compliments the poignancy within the depth and livliness within the less serious aspect, while keeping consistent in a smooth theme that defines this film without quieting it down to a dull state. The men behind the aspects listed above a certainly to thank for their contributions to the film's tones, themes and effectiveness, yet when it comes down to execution, the man you need to look to is Judd Apatow, a quite frankly, while he doesn't quite leave the film to bite like it seriously should have, what he does right gets done very well, whether it be his playing with style and soundtrack, or controlling this film's tone, because as much as I keep going on about the dramatic aspects of this film, it's still very much a comedy, and an effective one, as Apatow, while evidently not quite familiar with something called tightening, definately knows how to construct a very down-to-earth comedic environment that's real easy to gel with and makes the humor all the more effective, and it certainly helps that Apatow generally knows what good improv bits and written jokes to keep in the film, even if this film's humor does fall a bit flat at times, thus leaving the film to deliver more often than not as a comedy, while what leaves it to deliver more often than not as a drama is the care that Apatow puts into the dramatic moments, for although the film's depth is hurt by the faulty story structure, the fact of the matter is that the film boasts depth that Apatow handles with poignancy and grace that conisistently compels, and even moves on occasions. There is a particularly powerful sequence in which Adam Sandler's George Simmons character, for his stand-up routine, plays a dramatic verse on the piano while singing, in a rather silly voice and with considerably silly lyrics, about himself as a miserable and lonely dirtbag, and in the midst of it all, we face intercuts of Simmons suffering through his acute myeloid leukemia, both emotion and physically, before he finally, set to the stand-up routine's outro in which Simmons jokingly dismisses people from honoring his memory, goes for a swim, stopping only to silently reflect on his life, his actions and how he has become the miserable dirtbag in that silly song, having dismissed too much honor in his life. What Apatow does with that sequence is nothing short of magical, as he cuts through all of the silliness and draws every bit of dramatic essence and quiet poignancy to craft a very potent scene that sums up the depths and humanity of this film, even with all of the fun and games. Moments like these are ever so scarce, and were they more prevalent, this film really would have been solid, yet as things stand, this film strikes both chords and funny bones, and wouldn't have been able to do as good of a job as it does without the help of cast, or at least most of the cast.

Eric Bana has to be one of the worst major actors alive, and it almost keeps me awake some nights knowing that no one notices, probably because the roles that he picks tend to give him little material, which still doesn't stop him from having his moments in which slips up rather glaringly (That "pillow scream" scene in "Munich" also almost keeps me up at night), and while he doesn't show up until a little bit earlier than the latter parts of this film, once again with enough material limitation to be passable, he has his ever so occasional faults, particularly towards the end, when he actually is presented with material and slips up, just as expected, either hilariously cocking his face, bad smell style, or pulling some forced, red-eyed heaves that you think are going to lead into crying, yet don't, probably because Judd Apatow even realized that he would be wasting good eye drops. That being said, as much as I hate to admit it, he's still reasonably passable in this film, not just because he has very little material to mess up, but because it wasn't just his "acting" in that airport scene that amused me, because almost as many people forget that he was a comedian before he became a horrible actor, and he does admittedly have his fair share of decent moments of humor that he delivers on adequately, even without genuine charisma, while most everyone else delivers both comedically and on a general acting level, or at least when they have something to do. As big as the film's cast is, there's not a whole lot of attention being put into the people outside of the primary cast, so of course there's very little for the secondaries and tertiaries to work with, yet this remains a cast riddled with talents (and Eric Bana), who may not have either the time or material to really hit home, but leave their impression, whether they be colorful cameos or such memorable secondaries as Johah Hill - as the awkward and sometimes frustrated ambitious - and Jason Schwartzman - as the cocky yet sometimes well-intentioned friend who actually made the break into celebrity -, while the people who really impress are certain members of the primary cast. Make no mistake, Seth Rogen is very much playing Seth Rogen, as he always does, though it's a role that he plays well and continues to play well with this film, delivering on that kind of mellow yet still rather lively comic presence, mixed with an everyman charisma that really works for this film in which he plays an ambitious who stumbles into the wonderful world of celebrity through a friendship with a figure he respects highly, thus making the Ira Wright character a compellingly relatable one, made all the more compelling by the unexpected depth within Rogen's performance, for although Rogen isn't presented with enough material to deliver a generally upstanding performance, he does better than you'd expect, donning layers and a degree of graceful subtlety in his portrayal of the shifts in the mindset and overall being of Wright as he makes both good and bad discoveries about himself, the celebrity world and, of course, a man he holds to such high regard, both as an inspiration and newfound friend. Now, Rogen isn't quite as good as I'm making him sound, but he does have his occasions that border on revelatory, even having a crying scene that's meant to be comedic, but is almost too well-done to be funny, and while there's not nearly enough of that found in Rogen's performance for you to forget about the fact that he's generally playing Seth Rogen yet again, let alone see an especially impressive performance on a general scale, Rogen plants enough unexpected depth within his trademark charm to make Ira Wright a compelling character, matched, if not topped by the George Simmons character, who has his flaws as a human figure, yet never descends to unlikable, as he goes backed by both Adam Sandler's charm and, yes, even powerful acting ability. Like Rogen, Sandler is playing himself, yet really has the chance to go above and beyond it all, being relatively restrained and placed more down to the earth than usual in order to create a confident charisma that really wins you over throughout the film, while impressing the most when the dramatic aspects fall into play, for Sandler is certainly the man with the most material, and makes sure that the honor doesn't go to waste, portraying the profoundly human anguish and revelations of a man facing death with sensational emotion range that touches on anything from intense emoting to powerful silence and expressiveness, while tossing in very human layers that carry much of the progressive energy of this film, defining the dynamicity that this film may not have enough of, but still has plenty of, as well as the depths of Simmons, who isn't fully embodied by Sandler, being that he's still playing Adam Sandler, yet remains played with enough charisma, emotion and confidence to make for a revalatory and film-carrying performance by Sandler. It truly is a pretty upstanding performance, though certainly isn't the only upstanding aspect in this film, for although this sharp story goes so messily handled that the final product fails to make it past genuinely good, it remains genuinely good nevertheless, and very much so, being consistently entertaining, often amusing and sometimes poignant in a fashion that really ties everything around and defines this film as a very rewarding one.

Wrapping up this routine, the film is loosely edited, leaving much excess dialogue and humor to spill in and slow down the momentum of the story, which goes further tainted by an excessively padded structure, broken up by forced major plot points that drive into the film both a degree of unevenness and a heavy blow to resonance, thus making for a film that stands as overlong and awkward, so much so that it falls beneath its potential of being rock solid, though doesn't fall too far, boasting an attractive visual style and cleverly-manipulated soundtrack that supplements both livliness and tone, which goes firmly established by Judd Apatow's flawed, but consistently entertaining and occasionally dramatically inspired storytelling, complimented by a myriad of memorable performances within the colorful cast (Eric Bana notwithstanding), from which Seth Rogen stands out with his immense charisma and Adam Sandler stands out with both immense charisma and potent emotional range, layers and overall dramatic depth, thus leaving "Funny People" to stand as a thoroughly entertaining, often touching and ultimately very worthwhile comedy-drama that may not stand firm as truly solid, but stands not that far from.