FUNNY PEOPLE (2009)
If you were like most normal high schoolers, or at least like my sisters or Avril Lavigne, you went through the inevitable range of fads as you strove your find your true identity as a teenager. It probably started with the hippie stage, where you smoked grass, crafted such fine art as tye-dye t-shirts and peace quilts, listened to magnanimous musical artists like 311, and lounged around all day accomplishing absolutely nothing. After that, you likely transitioned to the goth stage, when one day you suddenly relished in your own self-loathing and angst at the sight of a Hot Topic at your favorite hang-out spot: the mall. And in the final stage of self-discovery, you came to the realization that you enjoyed the works of immortal wordsmiths like Soulja Boy and Snoop Doggy Dog, wearing t-shirts that are long enough to provide your body complete warmth in the dead of winter, and playing high-stakes casino games like street craps. Yep, you finally realized that you were black.
Judd Apatow's third directorial effort is one that has a noticeable (and similar) identity crisis. While more mature than THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP, FUNNY PEOPLE certainly has its share of the typical Apatow-crew lewd humor. This is all fine and dandy, but for a film that tries to yank at the very cords of your vagina, FUNNY PEOPLE is a film that will leave you at a strange paradox wondering whether or not you found the flick funny or sad.
FUNNY PEOPLE is a nice looking film, thanks especially to the somewhat confusing choice of the renowned Janusz Kaminski as cinematographer. For all intents and purposes, FUNNY PEOPLE is an adequately directed film, highlighted by some old school home movies of Adam Sandler, but the cheese factor that Apatow was able to qualm in his previous rom-coms is laughable in its abundance here. Adam Sandler suffices, but while he delivers a performance certainly better than that of his previous stinkers like LITTLE NICKY and CLICK, he's as dull as dishwater when he's not making his SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE era funny noises (why wasn't this movie called FUNNY NOISES?). A slimmed-down Seth Rogen is also adequate; he's funny but not over-the-top and annoying for those that are tired of his humor.
FUNNY PEOPLE is funny. It has its sad moments, but it never really sold me on the dramatic end. I guess the only real thing that I was sold on walking out of the theater was that I have a crush on Aubrey Plaza. My new most anticipated movie of 2010: SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. I don't know who you are, Scott Pilgrim, but your girl Aubrey does strange things to my boy parts.
C+
Note: no more stars. Since there are more letter grades than stars (on a five-star scale and without half-stars, and counting pluses and minuses, of course), I like the new abundance of choices with letters better. Maybe I should try to learn the Chinese alphabet for this purpose... Nah, fuck that.
Next up: DISTRICT 9. Fuck yeah!
Judd Apatow's third directorial effort is one that has a noticeable (and similar) identity crisis. While more mature than THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP, FUNNY PEOPLE certainly has its share of the typical Apatow-crew lewd humor. This is all fine and dandy, but for a film that tries to yank at the very cords of your vagina, FUNNY PEOPLE is a film that will leave you at a strange paradox wondering whether or not you found the flick funny or sad.
FUNNY PEOPLE is a nice looking film, thanks especially to the somewhat confusing choice of the renowned Janusz Kaminski as cinematographer. For all intents and purposes, FUNNY PEOPLE is an adequately directed film, highlighted by some old school home movies of Adam Sandler, but the cheese factor that Apatow was able to qualm in his previous rom-coms is laughable in its abundance here. Adam Sandler suffices, but while he delivers a performance certainly better than that of his previous stinkers like LITTLE NICKY and CLICK, he's as dull as dishwater when he's not making his SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE era funny noises (why wasn't this movie called FUNNY NOISES?). A slimmed-down Seth Rogen is also adequate; he's funny but not over-the-top and annoying for those that are tired of his humor.
FUNNY PEOPLE is funny. It has its sad moments, but it never really sold me on the dramatic end. I guess the only real thing that I was sold on walking out of the theater was that I have a crush on Aubrey Plaza. My new most anticipated movie of 2010: SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. I don't know who you are, Scott Pilgrim, but your girl Aubrey does strange things to my boy parts.
C+
Note: no more stars. Since there are more letter grades than stars (on a five-star scale and without half-stars, and counting pluses and minuses, of course), I like the new abundance of choices with letters better. Maybe I should try to learn the Chinese alphabet for this purpose... Nah, fuck that.
Next up: DISTRICT 9. Fuck yeah!
Letters are a good way to go. Would you consider going back and scoring all your other reviews using this new system?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to DISTRICT 9 too. One of the only good films left this year.