Judd Apatow

WARNING: *SPOILERS for FUNNY PEOPLE*

I love Judd Apatow's work. 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up? Loved them both dearly. In terms of what he's produced? Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Walk Hard, Superbad, Talladega Nights, Kicking and Screaming, Ron Burgundy, the Cable Guy, Celtic Pride (I enjoyed it), Freaks and Geeks...

Either way, I'm a big Judd Apatow fan. Needless to say, I was pretty damned excited for Funny People. Adam Sandler can be a phenomenal dramatic actor, as apparent by Punch-Drunk Love. The usual strong Apatow cast is in this...Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen...and the awesomeness that is Eric Bana. Not to mention all the surprise cameos scattered throughout the film.

I wanted to love this film. I'm sure I'll buy it when it comes out on DVD. But dammit, this disappointed me. And I'm in the midst of trying to figure out why.

The first half of the movie deals with Adam Sandler trying to come to grips with his death. The second half is a love story. They feel like two separate movies. I get that Point A leads to Point B, but it feels too far apart. The first half of the movie, he realizes what an asshole he's been all his life, and reconciles with his family, friends, etc. And he wants to reconcile with the love of his life. And what happens after that? He goes right back to being an asshole. So when the movie ends with him changing again, it feels like a retread of what already happened in the movie.

Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill, and Aubrey Plaza are all prominently featured in the first half of the film. So is Seth Rogen. By the time the second half rolls around, the first three are gone, and Seth Rogen takes a huge backseat. At first, it works, because he's the outside observer noticing things from an outsider's perspective. It just carries on too long and he fades into the background after being such a huge part of the film. The Jonah Hill-Seth Rogen fight also is incredibly unnecessary, and seems to only be added for heightened tension.

Maybe I didn't enjoy it much because a lot of the material hits too close to him. And yeah, it was very funny. There were a lot of moments that had me rolling. And as two separate movies, they both worked very well. But as a larger part of the picture, it didn't do it as much as I hoped for me.

I want to watch it again to reassess my evaluation, but I had to blog for the time being to help myself understand my thoughts on the film.