Either I’m getting old and picky, or the crop of movies the last few years has been particularly crappy. Or both, I suppose. I can’t remember very many movies that have really resonated with me for the last few years — but it seems the ones that have often have writer/director Judd Apatow and/or Seth Rogen somewhere in the mix:
- Knocked Up
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno
- Funny People
None of these are perfect movies, but they definitely have heart and leave me laughing and thinking about life and relationships. (Also enjoyed Pineapple Express, Superbad, and Monsters vs. Aliens — all featuring Rogen, but I can’t say those movies were particularly thoughful…)
Funny People focuses on Ira Wright (Rogen) and George Simmons (Adam Sandler). Wright is a struggling comedian who becomes a personal assistant to Simmons, a successful actor and comedian who finds out he’s got a potentially fatal illness.
It’s not a straight path from A to B, the movie is a little longer than it should be (more than two hours) and I think it could have been trimmed a little bit without suffering — some of the scenes seem not entirely necessary, and some of the sub-plots probably didn’t need to be in the movie (and aren’t neatly resolved by the film’s end). But it’s a (mostly) pleasant ride, and I found myself involved with the characters enough that it didn’t really matter.
Several scenes had me really rolling, not “hey, that’s kinda funny,” chuckling, but laughing my ass off. The film doesn’t end quite the way I expected it to, but it was a satisfying ending, which is a good thing on both counts.
Not the kind of movie I’d see twice in the theater, but definitely one I plan on buying the DVD when it comes out. It managed to inch to the top of the box office this weekend, but only did $24 million. For reference, the kids movie G-Force scored #1 with $31 million, Bruno did $30 million, Transformers $42 million, and Harry Potter scored $77 million its first weekend.
