Friday, Jul. 31, 2009

Power of the dark side ... of funny

In his third directorial effort, King of Comedy Judd Apatow explores the dark side of the funny business with mixed results. While there is much to like about "Funny People," Apatow has crammed in enough elements for two or three movies -- and a sitcom.

Adam Sandler stars as George Simmons, a former stand-up comic who is now a major movie star. He is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and begins experimental treatment. His life in shambles, he returns as the Golden Boy to the Comedy and Magic Club in Long Beach, for an incoherent stream-of-conscious turn at the mike. Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), a struggling comic who toils in a deli by day, has to follow him. In a parking lot encounter, the big name asks the little nobody to write some jokes for him.

Ira's thrust into "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" as he is hired to be George's personal assistant. He becomes his nurse, confidant, friend and whipping boy. Ira lives with two other showbiz hopefuls -- comedian Leo (Jonah Hill) and actor Mark (Jason Schwartzman). When their arrested-development dialogue is free from adolescent humor, the roommate storyline is actually interesting. Encounters with their neighbor Daisy (Aubrey Plaza) are a bright spot in the movie.

Even though George has been making people laugh his entire life, he is mean-spirited, shallow and self-absorbed. Because his existence is empty, he tries to make amends with his family and an old girlfriend Laura (Leslie Mann), "the one that got away," who is married and has two children with an Australian businessman (Eric Bana). Things get weirder when George's disease goes in remission.

Does the man-child grow up? Do any of them -- ever, really?

There's a lot of goodwill here for the cast because they are likable guys. Rogen's character has the moral compass the rest lack, and he is excellent (and showing off his thinner physique). Hilarious Schwartzman, as a vain lothario, and schlubby Hill have their moments to shine.

Sandler, while showing a deeper emotional range not seen since "Punch-Drunk Love," is playing yet another immature character, only he is not an idiot like much of his earlier work. He still has that annoying habit of delivering lines while hardly opening his mouth, and on top of slurry speech, he does those mocking voices that his fans adore. It's a lazy schtick.

The movie's tone is all over the place. It's a jumble of heartfelt moments, funny one-liners, crude remarks, mentions of body parts, guy locker-room talk and stand-up comedy routines. With its whopping 140 minutes running time, the meandering detours get tiresome.

So much is going on here that two-thirds into it, a whole new subplot is introduced that's fairly self-indulgent on the director's part, focusing on his real-life wife Mann and their adorable two children (Iris and Maude Apatow) in family-life scenes in Marin County, sharply veering off course from its Hollywood setting.

Featuring witty observations about showbiz, the movie works best when it's a fly-on-the-wall glimpse into celebrity life and backstage drama at comedy clubs. It's crammed with a who's who list of cameos, which are fun to see. But as a love story, not so much.

With the mega-success of "Knocked Up" and "40-Year Old Virgin," Apatow has a formula chock-full of clever pop culture references and locker-room humor. This incessant yammering about body parts wears thin. Why do writers resort to mentioning what used to be unmentionables so frequently?

If you took out half of the raunchy remarks and F-bombs, this movie would still be funny. So why the emphasis on infantile? Enough with the pee-pee jokes!

By mixing too many tangents with a central character who is really a jerk, "Funny People" doesn't hit a bull's-eye, but scores in a few ways without ever bustin' loose.

2 1/2 stars

Director: Judd Apatow

Starring: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana.

Rating: R for language and crude sexual humor throughout and some sexuality.

Length: 2:20.

Should you go? Your funny bone will be attacked.

Second opinion: "'Funny People' isn't a bad movie; it's an indifferent one. No funny person wants to hear that." -- Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel