"Funny People" are Where You Find Them

FUNNY PEOPLE, Judd Apatow's third and least successful film (in nearly every way a film can be unsuccessful), was under-appreciated this last summer and solidifies Apatow's directorial/writing instincts above his slew of imitators. Films such as SUPERBAD, ROLE MODELS, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, etc. almost certainly contain more jokes per minute but never reached the startling realism and thematic value of FUNNY PEOPLE.

The characters in FUNNY PEOPLE would be more appreciated in real life than most movies--wherein the audience expects a certain level of hyper-reality; that is, everyone is funny, side characters are dumb, good girls are good, people know how they feel, etc. I believe the bare-bones reality of the film unsettled people. There was no emotional arch in a traditional sense, as life doesn't have an arch while you are living. Imagine how depressing that would be, if you new which "act" you were living out in your entire life right now. There was no real story arch either, as at now point were the characters building up to a single event or preparing for some third-act payoff.

Despite being about a bunch of comedians, the traditional jokes are lacking in number but the overall joke is the movie itself. Some people might read this as just a series of inside jokes for those involved in the production, but the audience is welcomed into their world. The whole film is working an a much more subtle brain wave length than "McLovin." And once one understand the non-story premise and attitude of the film, the jokes will start rolling. But just as important, so will the drama.

My opinion on Seth Rogen after seeing this movie changed almost as much as my opinion on girls after seeing Princess Leia in RETURN OF THE JEDI ("wow, I feel something all of a sudden"). Even Seth Rogen fans have a hard time saying the man hasn't been over-exposed in the last pair of years. He averages 4 films per year in the last 3 years--I don't know if I wash my car that often. Regardless he nails the "protege"/"struggling artist"/"sissy friend" character. You root for him but feel frustrated by him almost as much as Sandler does. A character that is flawed, not just in their world, but in the audiences' eyes is an incredibly hard act to pull off in any kind of like-able fashion, but Rogen--defying my knee-high expectations--molds an original and enjoyable performance.

FUNNY PEOPLE should set an example to other comedies trying to be more than the lowest common joke--I'm looking at you, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE. That's not to say I wish more films deal with death, be ultra-realistic, cast Seth Rogen or avoid traditional story arcs, but rather, I wish movies would be made with the heart and painful self-examination required of filmmakers in such cases. This movie could be read as a friend-family tribute (or even home video), but it is still meaningful to outsiders when it touches upon largely untouched, yet universal, situations. More times than not, and in more ways than not, life is funny--so it's all too appropriate that it should be filled with FUNNY PEOPLE.