Feature Movie of the Week: Funny People

I really was not expecting to like this movie.
I know that's not a very optimistic opening sentence but I feel that I need to emphasise how pleasantly surprised and quite frankly, shocked, I was as the credits rolled at the end of Funny People. I had loved it.
Don't get me wrong, I am a Judd Apatow (writer & director) fan, but sometimes his movies go a little bit too far for me and cross a line from the hilarious to the grotesque, but there was a very serious undertone and element of profundity to Funny People that I believe really sets it apart from his other films.

Adam Sandler plays George Simmons, a successful but very lonely comedian who finds out he has leukaemia. This discovery and the high chance that he is going to die soon leads him to return to the stand up comedy scene where he started out. This is where he meets Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) an aspiring stand-up comedian who, like most other comedians, idolises Simmons. George is impressed with Ira's routine and soon hires him as his assistant; someone to write jokes for him and basically just keep him company. The two form a very sweet friendship as Ira is one of the few people George tells about his illness and he consequently takes care of him through his treatment. It is through their friendship and Ira's influence over him that George re-connects with his estranged parents and lost-love Laura (Leslie Mann) who he never really stopped loving, although she is now married to Clark (Eric Bana) and has two kids. 

George Simmons

Am I not allowed to be happy 

or something? I've been living 

alone and alone and alone. 

That's my life. This is the 

only girl I've ever loved 

and I'm not supposed to do 

anything about this? When am 

I supposed to be happy? 

Why does everyone else get 

to be happy?

At it's core, Funny People is still a Judd Apatow comedy so expect plenty of hilarious moments, profanity and penis jokes throughout, but at the same time, the film does not shy away from it's dark subject matter. Cancer comedy films usually venture into cliched attempts to be inspirational, but Funny People isn't a cancer comedy. It is a film about a man's journey and transformation to be a better, happier person, about how illness changes people, about friendship, about unrequited love and about comedy and it's importance in our lives. 

And that is what makes Funny People a standout amongst modern comedy films.

Standout Performances

• Adam Sandler- Adam Sandler is a funny guy. Despite some questionable film and character choices in the past few years, he is ultimately an actor who can be very funny. But, despite this film's title, there is so much more to his performance than just 'funny'. It was so enlightening to see Sandler play a much more serious and concerted role that allowed him to flex his comedic muscles whilst concurrently showing off his dramatic acting chops as well. I was supremely impressed with his performance and I hope to see him to do more films like this in the future.

• Seth Rogen- I just love this guy, I don't know exactly what it is about him but I am captivated whenever he is on the screen. Despite his frequent performances in comedies, particularly Apatow comedies, Rogen has proven with some of his other film and role choices that he is a very versatile actor and can play both dramatic and comedic roles. Funny People is no exception to this as he is funny enough to keep up with Sandler, Hill and Schwartzman, but at the same time there is a softness and loveability that he brings to the character in the more serious moments.

• Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman- Playing Ira's hilarious buddies, Schwartzman an actor on the cheesy sitcom "Hey Teach" and Hill also an aspiring comedian. They give perfect doses of comedic relief throughout the film and their riffing off each other is incredibly entertaining.

• Eric Bana- Bana's accentuated Alpha male Aussie performance as Clarke is pretty  much what Australian's have come to expect from American scriptwriters, but I have to admit it really is a very funny performance. From showing off his Mandarin skills at the dinner table to explaining AFL to George and Ira, Bana does a splendid job at making this hyper-masculine, intimidating Aussie very loveable and hilarious.

Memorable Scenes

• When George's doctor (who has a thick Swedish accent) is telling him about his illness; it is too funny to explain so here is the clip:

 

• When Ira plays George some of the songs he is including on an iTunes playlist he is making for him because he says "Sometimes when I'm upset, music makes me feel a little better" (also a music moment, see below)
• George and Clarke's hilarious 'fight' towards the end of the film when Clarke finds out that George and Laura slept together. I say 'fight' because it is a pretty pitiful effort on all parts but it makes for very funny viewing. I also love the more dramatic moment after the fight when George asks Laura who she loves more, him or Clarke, and her response is Clarke, which was unexpected but I appreciated it because it was far more realistic.
• The final scene when George comes to see Ira at work and the two sit down at a table and make amense, it is a very sweet and cathartic moment

Music Moments

• James Taylor- Carolina on my mind 

• Keep me in your Heart- Warren Zevon

I would say this was the moment when this film struck a chord with me. The moment Keep me in Your Heart starts playing (the final song in the clip) it is so powerful purely in comparison to George's reactions to every other song, he isn't joking around anymore. George switches from messing around and making fun to being very contemplative and serious, and the looks on his and Ira's faces immediately grabbed my heart.

• Watching the Wheels (Acoustic)- John Lennon