Funny People Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Adam Sandler as George Simmons
Seth Rogen as Ira Wright
Leslie Mann as Laura
Eric Bana as Clarke

Plot: When comedian George Simmons learns he has a life threatening illness that is getting worse, he tries to make friends and mend old wounds before he passes.

Review: There was a lot of hype surrounding this movie, starting almost a year before the movie even came out. Lots of viral advertising which included Myspace having the poster and trailer on their home page for months. Of course they were featured in the movie so it was just a big publicity stunt. Nonetheless, this movie got a tremendous amount of hype. When that happens, it's usually never good.

With a title like Funny People, you'd expect funny people in it and for the movie to be funny. That isn't fully the case. Yes, the movie has funny people like Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann, who together have over two decades of comedy in them. With a cast like that, there should be a lot more parts that make you laugh. Instead, the movie comes off as a sad, emotional movie with some comedy along the way.

Adam Sandler has always been a good actor and a better comedian so trying to mix the two is a good combination for him and watching him was probably the best part of the movie. His character goes from just shitty, on the verge of dying type of guy to a very happy guy with a 2nd chance at life to the realization that it's best to leave things as they are. Sandler plays off all those emotions pretty well, having you really feel like this guy is messed up.

I don't find Seth Rogen as hilarious as others find him but I still think he is funny. I never really liked the over emphasis he puts on certain jokes, but sometimes it's alright. Leslie Mann on the other hand, is always a delight to watch, besides the fact that she is a very pretty actress for her age. Her best scenes are the ones where she is reacting to things around her, which happens a couple times.

The story is a good one to follow, not horribly typical but a little predictable. You follow Adam Sandlers character, George Simmons, as he discovers his life threatening illness. He begins to take experimental medicine that has a slim chance of even working and a bigger chance of it back firing on him. Ultimately, it ends up working for time being and he gets healthy and he sees this as a 2nd chance at life and a chance to regain what's important to him.

One thing that really annoyed me was one part of the story that seemed annoying and just illogical. Seth Rogen's character starts to like a girl who lives next door to him and his roommates. One of his roommates also likes her or just really wants to have sex with her, so this roommate gives him 10 days to make a move on her. It ends up being 3 weeks before the roommate has sex with the girl and Seth Rogen's character gets pissed. Rogen and the woman have an argument as if they've known each other for years and like they're in a relationship when in fact, they've only been barely talking for a couple of weeks. So an unnecessary scene turns intense and i'm just wondering how this all makes sense.

The last thing that really bothered me is the length of the film. It ends up being about 2 1/2 hours. That is way too long for a comedy. Most movies shouldn't be that long unless they have a deep story and a good story to tell. Not to say that this movie doesn't have a good story to tell because it is, but damn a 2 1/2 comedy movie is unheard of.

Overall, Funny People isn't all that funny. They show some quick stand up comedy scenes from Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen and those end up being somewhat funny. Everything in between is also sort of funny, key word being sort of. With the given length of the movie, it should have been funnier. The story makes up for the lack of comedy a little bit but not enough for it to be a great movie, which it had the potential to be.

Rating 3 out of 5