Funny People: Adam Sandler

[Jim3k]

So who knew Adam Sandler could be a dramatic actor? I guess it’s true that comedians can more easily adapt to drama than a dramatic actor can move to comedy, but I had never considered Sandler in a drama. Well, of course Funny People is really a mixture.

Let me start by saying I recommend the movie. I would give it 3-1/2 stars out of five, so I’m not jumping up and down over it. Plus, I think it’s too long at 2:20.

Without (hopefully) providing any spoilers, it is director/writer Judd Apatow’s effort to root around in the underbelly of the world of professional comedians and writers, particularly the undiscovered/unappreciated sorts. It results in a collaboration between Sandler’s character and Seth Rogen’s. There is some significant man-bonding/mentoring between two comedians who have yet to grow up. Apatow explores the duality between real persons with real personalities and their professional, immature comedic counterparts. Life, death, divorce, marriage, infidelity, and naïveté are all part of this film. So are outrageous language and strange neuroses -- Sandler needs someone talking to him to help him sleep – and Rogen can’t get out of his own way when it comes to an actual girl.

Rogen can’t quite believe his luck when Sandler asks him to write jokes for him – but they become friends and confidantes – even when Sandler pushes him away because – well, he just can’t acknowledge having a real friend. That tension leaves things unsettled between them in a way Rogen can’t understand at least until an epiphany near the end. At that point, the movie asks, “Which of these two underdeveloped men will finally grow up?”

Leslie Mann adds to the confusion as Sandler’s ex-love currently married to Eric Bana (who plays a wannabe Aussie footer.) In real life, Mann is actually married to Apatow and their two children play delightfully as products of the Bana-Mann marriage.

Anyway, the polarity of artificial comedy versus the demands of being a real person permits a look into Sandler’s character that is quite poignant. And it’s worth the time to get there, even if, as in real life, things never quite get resolved. Sandler's performance here is to be admired.

Finally, the one thing former comedian Apatow can do is to get real comedians to perform cameos playing themselves. Mostly it’s just one-liners, but they are a pleasant distraction from those places where the movie lags. Not to mention a surprise performance by James Taylor.

This movie has lots of sexual references and crude language. It’s funny, but it’s not mindless or gross just to shock; it's usually used in a way that demonstrates something about the character making the statement.

[cspan37421]

So who knew Adam Sandler could be a dramatic actor?

Well, I did - I saw Spanglish on DVD recently. Pretty good film.

[SupaDave]

My people don't realize that the best comedy is about pain...

Easy transition to drama b/c you can take that pain and make it laughter.

[Tommac]

I work with someone who saw it and said that Funny People sucked big time. They said that it was two hours of constant f-bombs and other cursing. I'm not a Sandler fan, so I probably won't see it.

[Jim3k]

I work with someone who saw it and said that Funny People sucked big time. They said that it was two hours of constant f-bombs and other cursing. I'm not a Sandler fan, so I probably won't see it.

Heh. One of the scenes in the movie involves the Sandler character's parents who reprove him for 'working blue.' That ought to tell you something about the way the movie 'works blue.'

If the language offends you, by all means, give it a pass. If you think the language might offer insight into the human condition as seen by this tiny group of comedy writers and players, then it's worth the (slightly too long) time.

[cspan37421]

insight into the human condition

Thank you for using this phrase - it was a favorite of my late grandpa, to whom I was close, and it made me smile.

[UrinalCake]

I enjoyed the movie but also felt it was too long. It's basically two movies merged into one - the first involving the two comedians and their relationship, and the second involving Sandler's character and his ex-wife. I'm a big fan of Apatow's movies and this one was a big change of pace but there's enough juvenile humor, plus the jokes that are naturally inserted in the stand-up performance scenes, that prevented it from being too overly dramatic.

Spanglish was a great movie, very underrated. Sandler has evolved into a fairly well-rounded actor; films like Click and 50 First Dates were comedies but he plays an actual person, rather than relying on the goofball idiot persona of his early films (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, etc.)