DVD Review “Funny People”

After seeing and liking “Grown Ups” I decided to go back and see some of the Adam Sandler films I’d passed over in the past and give them a shot.  I’m usually a Sandler fan, but there have been a few of his films that for whatever reason I just had a gut feeling I should miss.  This one had all the signs of being a good film from just who was involved.  It was produced by Judd Apatow, the producer of one of my favorite all time tv shows “Freaks And Geeks”.  He also was behind “The 40 Year Old Virgin”.

I could probably sum the whole film up by saying “..people..yes it had them…funny it had not..”

There was not ONE single likable character in this whole film.  Not one.  Not a single character with any honor or scruples.  Plus, the dvd version is an ungodly LONG film.  At one point I think it’s almost over so I check the display to see how much time is left and it’s still got 55 minutes to go!  Hopefully Sandler didn’t pattern the main character to be anything remotely like his real life because if he did, he’s a guy I never want to meet!

There is no redemption of the main character.  What they try to portray as redemption comes up falling far too short in scope and length of screen time.  It’s relegated to the last 2 minutes of the film.

And the vulgarity is just over the top.  Only 5th grade boys laughing at the writing on the school’s bathroom walls would find this funny.  And I’m not someone who can’t laugh at a film with vulgarity either.  In the “40 Year Old Virgin” there was plenty of foul language and situations, but they were played well and were really funny.  As for politics, at least there wasn’t much of anything like that in this film.  There was a brief reference to him getting his experimental drug that he needed from Canada, but since they couldn’t possibly be saying Canada had a better system than the U.S., I’m assuming this was a slam against the over-regulation of drugs in the U.S. (after all, if someone is DYING, why aren’t they allowed to use a drug that’s not ‘approved’ by the FDA? They DIE either way!)

I expected more from Apatow and Sandler.  My original gut feeling to skip this one was definitely correct.  Lesson learned.  Listen to the gut.