Honeymoon over, the bromance turns sour.
Funny People
, like
the manchildren that director Judd Apatow pillories, is blissfully unaware of
its shortcomings. That’s mostly the fault of discordant subject material; the
movie is a ham-fisted amalgam of comedy and drama that only partially succeeds
at either. Veteran standup artist George Simmons (Adam Sandler) discovers he
has terminal cancer and hires struggling comic Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) as his
protégé and personal assistant. Ira is bedazzled at first by the fast-paced
celebrity lifestyle, but later grows disgusted by his mentor’s egotism as
George chases “the one that got away.”
The cast doesn’t want for talent: Funny People is bursting with uniformly solid performances from a
cornucopia of famous faces. Sandler devours his scenes, flexing his chops as
both funnyman and brooding misanthrope, often simultaneously. Sarah Silverman,
RZA and perennial creep Andy Dick play bit parts, and a vulgar exchange between
Eminem and Ray Romano is one of the movie’s funniest scenes. Jason Schwartzman
and the zaftig Jonah Hill are stellar foils to Rogen’s Everyman as his
roommates, particularly Schwartzman as the libertine star of the hilariously
awful sitcom (and DVD bonus feature goldmine) Yo Teach!