Guest Review: Funny People

The Funny, Yet Not So ‘Funny People’

Guest review by an old friend, Jon

Going into this movie I was prepared, I knew it wasn’t “what everyone expected” thanks to a friend (who I don’t remember) telling me about it. Maybe it was Luke. I also knew it was over two hours long. I was looking forward to the laughs it provided, yet was pleasantly surprised by the seriousness of the plot. Though despite it’s sometimes sobering scenes, I was found to be humored just by the situations these comedians (literal and figurative) became wrapped up in. Concerning the length of the movie; it was not LOTR long and epic, nor was it Benjamin Button all encompassing long. As I sat there and watched Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, I felt I was watching the very humorous, dramatic and ironic parts of their characters lives. All-be-it for a small, yet very important, chunk of their lives.

For the most part it was well put together, I didn’t notice any glaring editing flaws (which happen a surprising amount these days). And the overall flow of the movie felt natural throughout, minus the speeding semi that was Sandlers ex-fiance suddenly deciding she wanted him back. Her character had the worst development, she was more of an extension of Sandler than the independently fueled character she should have been. It detracted from the obvious hang-ups Sandler still had for her.

Sandler and Rogen played their characters well through the duration of the story, they stayed true to who they were, yet had believable personal growth occur. I can’t comment too much on the directing, as I have always been a poor judge unless it is beyond-bad, but it appeared to be spot on for this particular movie. Cinematography was used only in such a way to properly portray characters and story development.

Whatever failings the script might have possessed were neatly ironed out by those charged to bring it to life. Sandler, a very well off/jerk comedian fit his role wonderfully and gave him some challenges with the whole ‘near death’ experience. While he did good, Luke Wilson I think takes the cake on the gonna die/aint gonna die in this psuedo-comedy genre. Seth Rogen, he did good, especially since you can tell he might have drawn a lot of experience playing a struggling comedian from his own life.

I admired this movie and highly commend it on a very strong morale point. While some very grievous mistakes are made between characters, the morale high path is chosen, a move not made often in movies, yet seems to come about on occasion. Perhaps Hollywood is learning from Las Vegas, sin sells, but families pay the most $$$.

Final word, go see it. This movie is about people. It’s funny, dramatic, and while it might not beg any social issues, it’s a movie I want in my collection.