4) Funny People
Verdict: I think so
Funny People, and director Judd Apatow’s followup, This is 40, both veer in a new direction for someone known for supposed gross-out comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up (even though those movies are incredibly earnest compared to most other comedies). They’re kind of simultaneously familiar based on Apatow’s previous work and also radically different, and so can be mildly to severely off-putting on first viewing. At least, they were for me. Because it was first, Funny People threw me and many others off the most, but upon revisiting the movie, I was struck by how tremendous it actually is.
The pivotal line in the movie is spoken by Adam Sandler’s character, the angry and isolated big-venue comedian who is constantly either abusing or imparting wisdom to Seth Rogen’s character. In a moment of ritual abuse, he belittle’s Rogen’s abilities as a performer, telling him “Comedy is for funny people.” This of course strikes a resounding note of irony, given how little humor the Sandler character shares in his daily life, and indeed given the stereotype of many stand-up performers as sad, lonely clowns.
Apatow’s new work seems to function on the basis of the comedy enhancing the dramatic and emotional weight of the narrative rather than the other way around, and a second viewing of Funny People might allow more people to tap into this new aesthetic that he’s beginning to master.
Published: Feb 26, 2014 02:58 pm