Synopsis
George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a world renowned actor, comedian and “funny man”. He has everything that money can buy, women falling at his feet, and he’s dying of cancer. One lonely night, Simmons goes to perform some stand-up at a club he used to frequent, and after venting his emotions to the audience, watches as the unfunny Ira Wright (Seth Rogan) takes the opportunity to poke fun at him. Reaching out, Simmons decides to employ Wright as a personal assistant and an awkward friendship begins to form between the two men. With death being imminent, Simmons reaches out to estranged family, friends and to a lost love in the form of Laura (Leslie Mann), now married with two children. We see Simmons search for the meaning of life, death and what really matters, and the destructive influence of getting everything you want.
Having been schooled at a boys boarding school and over a decade of teaching, not much shocks me. I do find the base level crudeness that you can find in most stand-up comedy nights distasteful (perhaps heightened by my sensibilities as a teacher). Funny People portrays the crudeness accurately, and so whilst I give it credit for being in touch with reality, I must warn those easily offended not to go and see this film.
Adam Sandler is one of my least favourite comedy actors. He sits on the bottom rung with Will Ferrell, and there is little beneath them. I find puerile comedy cringe-worthy, and so having never read any reviews for this film, I have to wonder what drew me to it. Perhaps having enjoyed Knocked Up (but not Superbad or Year One), the pairing of Judd Apatow (director) and Seth Rogan made me curious. Like Will Ferrell in “Stranger than fiction”, Adam Sandler proves his worth as an actor in this film, and it confirms my opinion that some of the best humour is not just situation comedy, but the wave of pairing comedy moments with bittersweet, sad or ironic moments that has swept American sitcoms (creeping into the end of Friends, prevalent in Ally McBeal and Sex in the City). As aforementioned, this is a film of two halves. The first concentrating on Simmons’ battle with cancer, and the second his fight to regain his lost, but married, love - Laura.
Seth Rogan again demonstrates how well he is cast in this role, playing the bumbling comic wannaby, and Leslie Mann also performs well (although the fake lying is embarrassingly overplayed). Eric Bana plays Clarke, Laura’s regularly absent husband, and whilst I like him as an actor, has such an awful Australian accent it is hard to take him seriously.
The film as a whole, whilst will not register amongst the classics, may be one I will remember favourably, the only barrier to recommending it being the volume of crudeness within it. It raises some deep questions, and offers some answer without being preachy, and so I would recommend this film if you can stand the aforementioned crudeness.
Christian Perspective
I can forgive and excuse the sex, penis and jokes about other profanities as an accurate portrayal of what goes on in the stand-up comedy scene. Others may not. I liked that this film raised deep questions about death, and what is important in life. It did so realistically and sensitively, and there were no glib, superficial Hollywood answers. The overwhelming message that if someone gets whatever they want it does not lead to happiness, was clear, as well as a secondary note on the importance of the relationships with friends and family. These are good things. Obviously, the audience are not challenged too strongly on the pointlessness of it all, or asked to examine the meaning of life, but these are gently touched on, and if we are looking to eternity, and hoping to challenge our friends on these issues, then this can only be a good thing.
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