Surprisingly sad Sandler sells

Director Judd Apatow seems to have found the three necessary ingredients for making a successful film: a protagonist with internal strife, dick jokes and Seth Rogen.

“Funny People” does not deviate from the recipe, though it is more dramatic than Apatow’s previous works (“The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up”) and is his most personal film of the three. He even included 20-year-old video footage of Adam Sandler making prank calls when the two briefly lived together.

In reality, there are two types of people: those who are content and those who are never satisfied. In Los Angeles, there are two classes of people: the people who are perpetually trying to make a career in entertainment and the ones who have made it. “Funny People” is a meeting of both worlds.

George Simmons (Sandler) is one of the biggest comedic stars in Hollywood and lives in a mansion on the beach, but he is alone, unhappy and dying. When George performs a last-minute stand-up gig, he meets Ira (Rogen), a comedic work-in-progress who has the balls to clown on the superstar.

George initially hires Ira to write jokes for him, but Ira soon becomes a confidant paid to hear George’s problems and talk him to sleep. Through their relationship, we see every side of George: a hopeless romantic who sleeps with random women, a jerk who gives the appearance of a nice guy but constantly belittles Ira, a phony trying to find meaning in his finite life.

For its comedic value, “Funny People” is as good as billed. Apatow has said that before writing, he sits with his actors for joke brainstorming sessions, and the proof is in the pudding (i.e., tons of jokes about balls).

The supporting cast (Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman) is underused in order to delve into the romance between George and his old flame Laura (Mann). About halfway in, the film drags through a lengthy scene in which George and Ira are stuck at Laura’s house and her husband (Eric Bana) unexpectedly returns. The scene could have easily been cut in favor of more dick jokes and scenes from “Yo Teach.”

“Funny People” ambitiously tries to balance serious personal issues with raunchy laughs, which may seem like much, but the film would not work focusing on one or the other.
Apatow understands that life is a bitch, but nothing cures the blues like a good anal joke.