Funny People
Forget about the overly-long reconciliation scene towards the end which veers into big-budget family home video material for director Judd Apatow, Funny People is a layered, surprisingly character-focused comedy-drama which seems worlds away from the broadly-sketched hi-jinks of his concept-driven films , Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin. Unintentional or not, this film feels like it was made with an older adult audience in mind, and it’s all the better for it.
A welcoming departure for Adam Sandler (in a way, a more challenging part than his knowingly kooky turn in Punch-Drunk Love) it’s a shame it wasn’t the hit both star and director hoped for. Sadly, Sandler felt obliged to dive back into the kind of audience-pandering, mawkish schlock which also fills the resume of his character from the film.
Apatow’s latest, This Is 40, felt like an insecure blend of both Funny People and those films with which he made his name. Maybe next time around he should move even further outside his comfort zone and turn to the work of his idol Albert Brooks for inspiration.
