Review: Funny People (2009)

Being a product of the late-eighties, I grew up on Adam Sandler. He was my absolutely favorite actor as a kid. I think I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for him.

So I guess it was kind of fun to see a film where he plays a distorted version of himself, complete with archive footage of his younger years as a comedian. Instead of playing a man-child jackass, as he is prone to do, he's a fully grown asshole. Okay, backup. In the beginning George Simmons (Sandler) finds out he's dying. So, he decides to shake things up in his life and meets Ira (Seth Rogen), an aspiring stand-up comic, and hires him to be his assistant and help him write jokes.

People are calling this Judd Apatow's "serious movie." It's sort of true. It's got more serious issues, but it's still funny. ALTHOUGH. The humor seems more forced than usual. It's a movie... About stand-up comedians. I have to say most of the footage at comedy clubs is dull. I was... disappointed.

Seth Rogen is at his most endearing, though. Instead of playing a lovable slacker who's always screwing up, he's an earnest, sweet-minded guy who's trying to get himself out there, but finds himself frustrated constantly by his roommate (Jason Schwartzmann, in a role not far off from Max Fischer) who has a well-paying job on a pitiful network TV sitcom.

After about what feels like 2 hours of becoming closer with his friends and family (and beating cancer), George finally gets back in touch with his ex-girlfriend (Leslie Mann) who is now married (To Eric Bana) and has two kids (The Apatow children). Some shit goes down and it all gets rather uncomfortable to the point where I lean over to my sister and say: "I'm trying to imagine how this is going to end well..."

I'm not sure I like the serious side of Judd Apatow.

Okay, and one last thing. It's over 2 hours. No comedy should ever be longer than 2 hours, and Apatow has always had a problem with editing. It really feels like a lot of stuff packed in. Like they couldn't bear to cut some stuff because they liked it, but it really had no place in the film. Eh, what am I saying?

The movie is too long and not funny enough. There I said it.

Still, Apatow is Apatow and he's always present.

Recommended? May as well

Grade: B-
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Random News: "Paul" gets a cast!

From the A.V. Club:

Paul, a new comedy starring and written by Shaun Of The Dead, Spaced, and Hot Fuzz co-stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost has announced some casting choices. Variety, which inimitably describes the film as a "road trip laffer," has revealed that the cast will include Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Seth Rogen, the lattermost providing the voice an alien. This is the first Pegg / Frost pairing on which Frost has a writing credit, the previous films having been co-written by Pegg and director Edgar Wright. It's also the first such team-up with another director. Greg Mottola of Adventureland and Superbad fame will be taking the helm.

Why.... Has this suddenly turned into a Judd Apatow film?

Review: Observe and Report (2009)

I think I had a lot of smart things to say about this movie when I saw it nearly two weeks ago. But it's all gone.

I enjoyed Observe and Report for the most part. It's very angry. Seth Rogen's character Ronnie is the head of Mall Security and he believes his dreams may be realized when a Flasher attacks the parking lot. Ronnie suffers from Bipolar disorder, making him unstable and aggressive. It's only funny if you're amused by mostly morbid stuff. Luckily I was able to see the humor in most of it. I really felt like the film wasn't going anywhere. It was only 90 minutes but it felt like 2 hours. Very meandering. When I mentioned this to someone else, he said that it seems like that's Jody Hill's style. I suppose The Foot Fist Way was also a wandering film, but it did more for me.

Still, the end was awesome, and that's what matters: End strong.

Recommended? That's your call.

Grade: C+
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Trailers: Observe and Report (2009)

Video: Pineapple Express sketch from The Oscars

Review: Pineapple Express (2008)

The golden rule in writing: Write about what you know. I have a feeling that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had some trouble with this movie, in comparison to their fantastic teen comedy Superbad. This plot is overly-complicated. Clearly, the two writers don't come from action backgrounds. They come from comedy backgrounds, and more specifically, improv comedy backgrounds.

Action movies don't always have room for improv. It's choreographed and rehearsed. Also, the tricky storyline involving witnessing a murder, being connected to the asian mob, being chased by a corrupt cop... Whatever. I'm still confused.

Pineapple Express is, in many ways, good. Seth Rogen is, as always, solid. Yet, he's playing exactly the same guy he played in Knocked Up, but with a job. His writing is once again superb, and I'd be content with a bunch of guys sitting around talking, making jokes. They're witty guys, and their timing is impeccable. Then, somewhere along the line, there's a subplot involving an 18 year old girlfriend and her parents, and whatever happens there we don't know. Eventually the whole story falls apart.

But I have a hard time criticizing these boys too harshly. I had some good laughs over this script, especially in the beginning with an excellent, excellent cameo by Bill Hader as a military soldier trying Marijuana for the government, and demonstrating the effects. If you check it out for anything, make it that first scene.

Grade: B