Funny People (2009)

When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship cause him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.

Director:

Judd Apatow

Writer:

Judd Apatow

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Sandler	...	George Simmons
Seth Rogen	...	Ira Wright
Leslie Mann	...	Laura
Eric Bana	...	Clarke
Jonah Hill	...	Leo Koenig
Jason Schwartzman	...	Mark Taylor Jackson
Aubrey Plaza	...	Daisy Danby
Maude Apatow	...	Mable
Iris Apatow	...	Ingrid
RZA	...	Chuck
Aziz Ansari	...	Randy
Torsten Voges	...	Dr. Lars
Allan Wasserman	...	Dr. Stevens
Rod Man	...	Himself
Wayne Federman	...	Comedy & Magic Manager

Storyline

George is a very successful stand up comedian who learns that he has an untreatable blood disorder and is given less than a year to live. Ira is a struggling up-and-coming stand up comedian who works at a deli and has yet to figure out his onstage persona. One night, these two perform at the same club and George takes notice of Ira. George hires Ira to be his semi-personal assistant as well as his friend.

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Plot Keywords:

comedian | stand up comedian | woman on top | husband wife relationship | see through panties | 

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Taglines:

George Simmons was prepared to die, but then a funny thing happened.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Universal Pictures [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Judd Apatow/Adam Sandler Project

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park Observatory, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,001,152 (UK) (28 August 2009)

Gross:

£3,427,741 (UK) (18 September 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min 153 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the audio commentary, Paul Thomas Anderson did an uncredited edit of the film. He did get a thank you in the credits, however.

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Goofs

When George (who is driving) and Ira leave Laura's house to head back to Los Angeles, the gear shifter can be briefly seen in the park position.

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Quotes

Ira Wright: One of my roommates told me that he was Joe Pesci's son, I believed him for three years. I still get shit about that.

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Connections

References Ghostbusters (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Watching the Wheels (Acoustic)"
Written by John Lennon
Performed by John Lennon
Courtesy of Yoko Ono Lennon
Under exclusive license to Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Sometimes enjoyable, occasionally cringe-worthy.

Ira (Seth Rogen) is a struggling comic working at a sub shop. George (Adam Sandler) is a famous comedian and movie star who finds out that he's got a rare form of leukemia and won't live much longer, he's put on experimental medicine to try to combat the illness. This revelation rocks George's life. He's made tons of money and has plenty of people to suck up to him, but that just isn't enough. His world is falling down around him, all the mistakes he made have come back to haunt him. He tries to reconnect with the only girl he ever loved, Laura (Leslie Mann) and she doesn't want to talk to him until he tells her that he's sick. That plot line took up far too much of the movie.

George and Ira meet when George goes to one of the old comedy clubs he used to do stand up at and stands on stage without any material, talking about how he knows he's bombing when he can hear people in the audience cough. George ends up hiring Ira as his assistant and their odd friendship/work relationship begins. Ira has always been a big fan of George and is spellbound by the limos, private planes, and the women George has gotten so used to.

Their relationship is at sometimes interesting, I'm not sure where Judd Apatow (the director) meant to go with this picture, he seems to get a little bit of everything, not enough of the good and too much time spent on the bad. Ira likes one of his neighbors, Daisy "Aubrey Plaza" and that was a fun relationship that the movie really neglected. By the end, it felt very underdeveloped. Most of the dialog feels improvised and very clunky. Judd Apatow was trying to convey something here that he just couldn't in the end.

For what does work, this movie deserves a 6/10 rating. It's a dramedy, anyone looking for one or the other will likely be disappointed.