Review: Funny People

Review: Funny People

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 65%

Anchorman, The Forty Year Old Virgin, Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express. I've enjoyed quite a few of Judd Apatow's movies in spite of the gross-out humor being a bit much from time to time. But I endure it.

So, I was looking forward to Funny People. The over-the-top humor surfaces in the very first scene. I noticed that the men seated around me in the theatre laughed loudly. But soon, their jocular outbursts were just snickers, and then their laughter seemed to disappear altogether. As one critic pointed out, this is the most "adult" of Apatow's films. The laughs are quickly mixed with George Simmons (Adam Sandler) learning that he has a terminal disease and not long to live.

George becomes depressed while his personal assistant Ira, played by a slimmed-down Seth Rogen, does all he can to shore up George's resolve and his spirits. Ira has a sweet nature and is bent on doing the right thing. He's convinced that George might be better served by focusing more frequently on thinking of others before he satisfies his own needs. Until the end of the movie, however, there's seems to be no glimmer of hope for that possibility. So, finally, the film becomes a bit of a morality tale. Is it worth two and a half hours of Apatow?

No.

Wait for cable.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it