At The Movies with SCB – Funny People
2 min readThis week we will be reviewing Funny People, Judd Apatow’s third movie.
Judd Apatow showed you could make a hilarious movie while having heart at the center of the story with The 40 Year Old Virgin. This was a much-needed freshness from the overplayed Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn Frat Pack series. He did it again with Knocked Up. After that there were a bunch of Apatow inspired and indirect films: Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Walk Hard, Pineapple Express, Zach and Miri Make a Porno, Drillbit Taylor, etc. I think the Apatow name got stretched a bit far at times and some were a hit or miss.
Funny People is Judd Apatow’s big comeback to hilarious movies with heart. It’s a dark and serious movie that takes many breaks with laughter. It’s a very smart and original dramedy. Apatow makes everyone on screen meaningful and funny.
The cast is great. Adam Sandler is literally a highly successful dying comic that hires a very green stand up comic Seth Rogen as one of his writers and coffee guy. The supporting cast shines as well like in other Apatow films, each bringing their unique brand of humor into their scenes. This includes Erica Bana, Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann, and some really memorable celeb cameos.
I had no idea in the last act where the movie was going or how it would end, which is part of why the movie is so good. A good Judd Apatow movie is where you can take out the comedy and still have a good film, this is just that.
Some people might get turned off by how dark the movie is at first, but will get the laughs they were looking for along with a solid story. There’s a good amount of actual funny stand up jokes.
Go see it.
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