Funny People
Release year: 2009
My Rating: ★★★½ out of 5
Tagline: George Simmons was prepared to die, but then a funny thing happened.
Synopsis: Famous and wealthy funnyman George Simmons doesn’t give much thought to how he treats people until a doctor delivers stunning health news, forcing George to reevaluate his priorities with a little help from aspiring stand-up comic Ira.
This movie is not funny, people.
Adam Sadler
It's not supposed to be, at least I think. This is another one of those Adam Sandler movies that is trying to be a bit more serious. It still tries to insert some comedy elements, but in all, it's kinda depressing.
I think this is one I struggle to think about in retrospect because it's not a movie about gags or anything like that. Nothing is really gonna stick out to me. So it makes it a bit difficult to write this, but I'll do my best.
This movie is two movies in 1, and I think that works against it. I thought the first half of the movie was actually pretty good. Adam Sandler being someone who has to reflect on his life when he is unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer. I think it's something a lot of people could relate to: the questions of what your legacy is and if you have done right with the time you've had. I like this being through the lens of Adam Sandler himself because he certainly has made a reputation for himself that is pretty negative to a lot of people and probably struggles with his legacy all the time. Maybe it's why he feels the need to prove himself with these serious movies.
I like that in this movie Adam Sandler pretty much plays himself. I know I say that a lot with all these different wacky people Sandler plays, but this shows a little bit more of what he is beneath the mask. It's hard to say how much of it is real or not, and it makes it pretty interesting to see how he reacts in all these situations when he thinks he's going to die.
Then you realize there is still an hour left of the movie, and you may think "why?". Funny People starts to fall apart for me once you get to that second half. Anything that was satisfying in the first half gets taken away as you see Adam Sandler forget everything he learned. And Seth Rogan is still there for some reason even though by this point he has nothing to do with the plot. It just feels bad. Maybe that's the point, I don't know.
This guy hates Pat! 😡
What I do remember best from this night it that we watched It's Pat: The Movie. This movie is frequently cited as one of the worst movies ever made with the rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. And you know what, I kinda liked it. There's something about a movie so stupid and so ridiculous that makes me have a good time. Maybe you could consider it a little transphobic and poorly-aged, but maybe there's something about nothing but the same gender ambiguity related jokes that hit a little harder in 2022. And with everything going on now, this movie would probably be considered woke. Now is the time for the LGBTQ community to reclaim Pat. It's Pat.
Oh yeah, Funny People. Eminem is in this movie.
