Movie Reviews: "Funny People"

[JamesG]

Movie Reviews: Funny People
31 July 2009 6:12 PM, PDT

Judd Apatow's third R-rated comedy, Funny People, is not your usual Judd Apatow R-rated comedy, many critics are pointing out. It concerns a stand-up comedian played by Adam Sandler who learns that he he has contracted a fatal blood disease.

Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times praises Sandler's "perceptive, sympathetic performance." He's not merely playing his usual "passive-aggressive simpleton," Ebert notes.
"This other Sandler plays above and below that guy, and more deeply."

Kyle Smith in the New York Post calls the movie "a rethink of All that Jazz with comedy instead of Broadway" and says that it "turns out to be one of the most absorbing films of the year."
Sandler's performance, he adds, "is close to perfect."

Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun praises Sandler for delivering "a career-high performance."

But Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, however, argues that the film is basically too nice. "Nice can be murder on comedy and drama alike," she remarks, "adding parenthetically, "Comedy is a man in trouble, not a man at peace with himself."
Sandler's character, she notes, "is effortlessly charmless, and in his performance you see the risky movie this might have been if Mr. Apatow had pushed harder."

Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune takes a middle ground. "Funny People, he writes, "is 50 percent good and 50 percent close."

Roger Moore sums up in the Orlando Sentinel: "Funny People isn't a bad movie, it's an indifferent one. No funny person wants to hear that."

And Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News concludes that it is very much a bad movie. The headline on his review reads, "Judd Apatow's Funny People Bombs Like a Bad Stand-up Routine."

-IMDB News

[Schmoopie]

This movie looks really stupid. Who wants to see a movie about a dying comedian? The only person who can make serious look funny is Jerry Seinfeld, IMO. I still whenever I think about that episode where George asks Jerry not to be funny around this woman because George wanted to come across funnier than Jerry. That was hysterical, Jerry trying to sound all depressed! The woman told George that Jerry was "Dark and Disturbed"!

Anyway, The Seattle Times didn't give it good reviews either and even suggested some other stand up comedy-related movies...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...mr31funny.html

Suggested movies:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...crow31web.html

Andrea

[Cactus Jack]

^ Umm no it doesnt look stupid. That was a great episode BTW.


I do need to vent though


"Who wants to see a movie about a dying comedian?" ,well a lot of people do ,because Judd Apatow is behind it, and also it looks really good and his movies draw people. Who wanted to see movie about a 40 year old virgin? A guy like Seth Rogen getting a hot girl pregnant? Teenagers on a quest to get beer and hopefully losing their virginity and getting fake IDs? Who wants to see stoners chasing bad guys?Who wants to see a movie about a guy breaking up with his movie star girlfriend then going to Hawaii only yo find out she;s there too? I could go on and on, yeah , people probably said all those things, and guess what? All of those movies did really well, and still do on DVD, while most of the audiences for these movies are younger people. and younger guys mostly, people of all ages like these. Who wants to see a TV shows about freaks and geeks? Apparently no one did, cause it lasted a season, but try telling the many people who did watch it, or are watching it on DVD now. Same with Undeclared

[Jack Gomez]

I saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it. The best movie I've seen this summer. I'm not really a fan of Adam Sandler, but he was really good. Also loved the supporting cast and cameos.