Funny in part, people for all

Just saw the movie "Funny People" and I must admit - I loved it.

I read a lot of movie reviews, in between answering student questions, departmental phone calls, and painting office walls and I was so disappointed last week when the reviews for the movie started coming out. They said it was too long, too serious, too unsympathetic. Perhaps this is what I needed going in, to put myself at a level to take the movie for what it was, without inflating it with anxious expectations. However, in case you are swayed by critics, I'd like to respond with my take.

The Length

Sure it's long for a comedy. But isn't that a good thing? The movie is about the reality of being a comedian, and the characters are all at different stages of success. Is it really so awful to hear 2 and a half hours worth of jokes? These are FUNNY PEOPLE. I want to be in their circle. I want to hear their observations about their daily lives. They're not suffering through a war. They're not dying of a terminal illness (spoiler alert!). They're just living. And, because it's their profession, they make jokes about living. I didn't want it to end. In fact, all of it seemed so fitting. We get to see Ira, an awkward, sincere guy who has to work at a deli to support his stand-up. We get to see the fantastic Jason Schwartzman in a ridiculous TV show bringing in $25,000 paychecks. We get to see Jonas, the fatter, younger, funnier version of Ira, making it big and handling it poorly. These are the young kids, the future, and Adam Sandler is figuring out the shitty nature of mortality through all of these venues. He gives the toast at Thanksgiving dinner, and alludes to his age, his friends, the friends who have gone, and it made me ache for Chris Farley and the good old days of SNL. There are so many moments that reach beyond the character and feel completely true. I'd watch 10 hours of footage just to be a witness to those lives.




Unsympathetic Characters

A lot of reviews mentioned that the movie doesn't work because we don't feel sad for unhappy rich people. What? A person has to live in a trailer or a crappy apartment to be sympathetic? No way. The loneliest people are not the ones on an island. They're the ones in the city, surrounded by people who don't understand. A lack of connection when there are limitless options. Same thing here. George Simmons has made it big. He has the big house and the movies and the stuff and everything, and you'd want to cross the street to avoid him. He pushes everyone away and continues to make terrible decisions. He has the goods, but no one to share it with. He has the people, but he can't make it there. He has been too entrenched in the competitive world of comedy and fame (that Jonah's character so evilly espouses) that he even lashes out at the sweet as pie Ira. The scene where Laura's daughter sings the song from Cats, is so small and real and true that it's heartbreaking. It was a short story moment and it was perfect. Even the reconciliation at the end in the grocery store, with the crumpled up notes was so completely fitting. With all the backstory between Apatow and Sandler, it is impossible not to feel something for these characters.

Adam Sandler

All critics love "Punch Drunk Love" - which I could never quite understand. It's too weirdly aggressive. But he is perfect in this movie. Watching him walk through the hospital lobby after getting his diagnosis, and posing in pictures with his fans - beautiful. Seeing him struggle against himself, so quietly and maddeningly, and facing all that has passed him by was so honest and true. The truth! I don't know if it's supposed to be a commentary on his career and his life, but there is so much to be taken from that perspective. At the very least, I think you can admit he's come a long way since "Big Daddy".

Unexpected Pleasure



Aubrey Plaza, as the female comic in the movie is an hysterical delight. She and Zoe Kazan (Revolutionary Road) are my top two discoveries of 2009. Such a treat.



Those are my two cents. I hope, at the very least, to provide an alternative commentary to the excessive disappointment of the critics. Enjoy or avoid - now you can make an informed decision.