Our hearts bleed for Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow, those millionaire kings of comedy who are here to tell us that it’s lonely at the top, that money can’t buy happiness, and that — darn it — they probably shouldn’t have abandoned their roots on the open-mic circuit.
Funny People is Apatow’s poisoned valentine to the comedy business.
It’s a film that is more ambitious than Knocked Up or The 40-Year Virgin and yet somehow more frustrating, too. The director loves his subject; he hates his subject.
And his confusion ties the movie up in knots.
Sandler (Apatow’s friend and one-time room-mate) plays George Simmons, a cocksure superstar who seems a lot like Sandler except for the fact that he’s just been diagnosed with leukaemia.
Contemplating the closing credits from the luxury of his ocean-front mansion, George attempts to win back his first love (played by Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann) and plays curmudgeonly mentor to Ira (Seth Rogen), a struggling stand-up who is still holding down a day job in a deli.
When Ira suggests that George discuss his illness with his friends, the millionaire shrugs him off. "I don’t have any friends; I have showbiz friends. You’re my friend and I don’t even like you."
Funny People is at its best during this bleak, barbed opening half, when it paints an unvarnished portrait of the dog-eat-dog celebrity circuit.
But later, when George’s cancer goes into remission, the film turns flabby and complacent, and loses sight of an exit line.
All of which suggests that Apatow should perhaps follow George’s example and beat a retreat to the rough and tumble of the comedy club scene.
Isn’t the first rule of stand-up to keep it short and sweet; to quit while you’re ahead and leave the audience wanting more?
Funny People overstays its welcome by a full half-hour.
Funny People
Cert: 15
