I WANT YOU AND YOUR TRIPLE-XL FRIEND TO WRITE JOKES FOR ME: I know I'm late to the party on Funny People, but I want to say that rather than see it as an interesting failure like Matt did, I thought it basically succeeded as a challenging portrait of a comic and his industry, the misery that can drive comedy and the narcissism it can produce. I thought Adam Sandler was phenomenal -- this, not Punch-Drunk Love, is the fearless, deconstructing performance we've been waiting for.
Not entirely an original thought, but think of Funny People as being Almost Famous without the all the sweetness and redemption. (Similar, the stand-up comedy in FP isn't that funny in the same way the Stillwater music in AF isn't that good.) No, the movie's not perfect -- I thought Seth Rogen was the weak link, acting-wise, unable to sell the choices that his character was making. But I'm glad that the film's universe and ambition was as broad as it was (Yo, Teach!), and that its ending was not the Hollywood ending I'd have expected. In that regard, it's another work in which Apatow was involved that comes to mind -- The Larry Sanders Show, which did not exactly end with hugs all around, instead maintaining its cynicism to the end. Bottom line? See it if you still can, and the DVD ought to have quite a lot of interesting extras.
Please use this post as a jumping-off point for touting your favorite films of the summer of 2009 and lamentations as to those you've still failed to see. (In my case: Up, Ponyo, District 9 and now Big Fan.)
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