Funny Person: Judd Apatow - page 2
29 August 2009
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But George's old self-centered habits are hard to break and he is left alone and lonely again until love, success and more than a few miracles bring everyone together in an unexpected way
The film also stars 'Apatown' regulars Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana and Jason Schwartzman.
The movie has been met with mixed reviews but almost all critics agree on one point - this is Judd's most mature film to date.
Unlike his previous projects 'Funny People' has "considerable emotional depth", as well as the "requisite Apatow humour".
As Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun Times puts it, this is Judd's first "real movie".
He explained: "That means it has carefully written dialogue and carefully placed supporting performances - and it's about something. It could have easily have been a formula film, but Sandler's George Simmons learns and changes during his ordeal - and amazingly, we empathise."
But others claim the film is Judd's self-indulgent attempt to pretend he is still true to his stand-up roots.
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "'Funny People' is an attempt by Apatow to reconcile the huge success he has become with the up-and-comer he once was. The results run an increasingly exasperating two-and-a-half hours."
They have also criticised the film's length - it goes for 140 minutes - its R rating and depressing subject matter.
Unfortunately, the bad reviews appear to have put many of Judd and Adam's fans off seeing the film.
In its opening weekend in the US, the film made a disappointing $23 million at the box office, over $10 million less than it was expected to gross.
Box office analysts predict it will be the first of Judd's films to make less than $100 million worldwide.
But regardless of critical or financial success, Judd is extremely proud of 'Funny People' because it represents his own struggle to find a foothold in the world of comedy.
He said: "I always wanted to make a movie about comedians. A lot of comedians were really nice to me when I first started my career, so I wanted to talk about that mentor relationship. You know, I always looked up to comedians and wanted to be one.
"Having said that, everyone I encountered in my early career was really nice to me so a lot of it is fiction"
Sandler added: "There are moments in the movie that are directly from my life and Judd's life, or people we know's life - but none of it's really true. The story's not true.
"There are things that happened that led him to write this story that he took from our lives but not really in the order of the movie."
Even though Judd is quick to point out the movie is fictional, realism was extremely important to him.
Although only five minutes of stand-up footage appear in the film, he forced Sandler, Rogen and Hill to write complete routines and perform them in front of live audiences.
Even the old clips the cancer-stricken George pores over are authentic home movies, filmed years ago when Adam and Judd were roommates, with most of them showing Adam making prank phone calls.
Judd also held a stand-up comedy event called 'A Night of Funny People' at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theater, where the stars of the film performed alongside professional comics Sarah Silverman and David Spade.
The live audiences give the film an authentic feel, but Adam didn't enjoy performing live.
The career that thrilled him 20 years ago, now makes him feel embarrassed and old.
He said: "Doing stand-up when you're 42 years old has a lot more pressure. When I was in my 20s, I wanted be a movie star so, I would go on stage and if it went well, I was like, "All right, we're getting closer to me being a star.
"When I did bad I would just think, 'Wow, those people didn't understand how great I am.'
"Now, when I go on stage and say a joke and no one laughs, I'm like, "Wow, why am I here right now? This is very humiliating.' Making this movie really showed me how much I've changed."
'Funny People' opens in the UK today (28.08.09).
By Kerry Coleman
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