Funny People (2009)

Funny People is a masterpiece.

Yes, we said it.

And yes, we mean it.

The film was an in-and-out bomb when it released. It's the first Judd Apatow movie to be a disappointment both financially and critically.

It only grossed a third of what Knocked Up and 40 Year Old Virgin made and was derided by critics.

Funny People is impressive considering how many names are attached to it.

Apatow writes, Sandler stars, and it’s the first time we would see some of our most important voices currently working in comedy today.

To call Funny People anything less than a seminal piece of 21st-century studio comedies is doing it a true disservice.

One of the most important aspects of this film is how Adam Sandler is represented in this film.

Sandler plays George Simmons, a movie star who started as a stand-up comic and now makes incredibly unfunny studio comedies.

They are about as low-brow and slapsticky as comedies can be.

He’s left feeling very nihilistic after he gets diagnosed with leukemia and believes he’s going to die. He looks back on his life and career and realizes he did it all for fame and fortune, leaving no room for family or artistic passion.

They show many fake clips and trailers from Simmons’ filmography. Even we as Sandler lovers have to admit they feel similar to Sandler's actual filmography.

The fact that Sandler signed on to make this in many ways feels like he’s telling on himself. He’s playing a character that echoes how he sees himself within the industry.

This film is a great way to lift up a performance. it's not flashy and at first glance may feel like the same old bag of tricks.

It has depth to it that will make you question Sandler’s whole career and reevaluate him as a leading man moving forward.

As mentioned in the intro, Funny People has some of the best and most influential people working in comedy right now.

Including:

Dan Harmon, Kyle Kinane, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, and Bo fucking Burnham!

That list doesn’t even include cameos by already established stand-ups like:

Dave Attell, Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, Norm Macdonald, and even tips its cap to a long forgotten stand-up comic Eric Bana.

Yes, The Hulk himself started his career in Australia as a comedian.

The film is about the joy of stand-up and rediscovering the art form you once loved.

Apatow almost exclusively cast actors with a background in standup to make the conversations feel more authentic.

He even went as far as to trick Aubrey Plaza (a sketch and improv comic) into doing stand-up immediately after Adam Sandler.

(Check out her Hot Ones interview to hear that incredible story.)

Judd Apatow is very open about some of his directing heroes such as John Cassavetes, Hal Ashby, and Elaine May.

These are all directors who don’t make super stringently structured movies. To call them hangout movies would be a misnomer but to say that they adhere to a three-act structure is also a stretch.

This is a real turning point for Apatow.

Up to this point, he was making sharp comedies with likable protagonists and wild set pieces.

This film really leans into that purposeful hangout energy that Casavettes was known for. It has rough, morally ambiguous characters.

As Apatow would continue as a filmmaker, he would increasingly lean into that. Especially with The King of Staten Island. This was definitely his first dip into that pool.

Guess Tomorrow’s Film