Funny People - ***+ out of ****

“Funny People” may seem misleading to most, as it was advertised as being “from the writer/director of the 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up,” but what results is a comedy without laughs every minute but ultimately serves as one man’s realization of his mortality as he tries to live out what little time he has left. This man is George Simmons (Adam Sandler’s finest acting to date, at least deserving of a Golden Globe nomination but possibly an Oscar nom as well). George seems to have the same career as Adam Sandler, making goofy high-concept comedies that never go beyond the concept, but what is underneath is what we see. He is a bastard with no real friends because he can’t pay for them to be around him. He fucks hot girls for his own libido and so they have a story to tell their friends. He poses happily for pictures with fans so he can pretend he’s happy, but he knows who he really is. George gets some news from his doctor that he has a blood disease in the leukemia family and may not have much time left to live.

What happens now? He seems to crave that personal connection with people, so he goes back to his stand-up days, but he has no material. “When you hear the waitresses’ footsteps, you know you’re not doing too good…” he presents during a rather heartbreaking performance. However, his performance doesn’t end up just being an awkward spot, but Ira Wright (a skinny Seth Rogen, reliably in his character) uses his horrible performance for laughs in his. Ira works behind the counter at Otto’s, a deli, and aspires to become successful in his stand-up career, but the problem is that he’s just not that funny. Most of his jokes seem to be about his dick and farts, and he wonders why no girls want to stay with him. Thus, George hires Ira to be his stand-up writer, and the boundaries are blurred as to where Ira stands in George’s life. Should he serve as a counselor and try to be his friend or just write the damn jokes?

There is significance in the fact that the characters are named George and Ira. George and Ira Gershwin were a brother music/lyricist team that worked within Broadway plays as well as the classical realm where George would write the music while Ira would write the lyrics. Sandler writes the rhythm and pacing while Rogen provides the punchlines. The Gershwins have managed to write several hits together and many songs that I’m sure you’ve heard before (“I Got Rhythm”? “Rhapsody in Blue”? “Porgy and Bess”?). The movie seems to suggest that George and Ira could have been brothers in a different life.

The supporting cast is terrific. Leslie Mann is a genius of deadpan humor as “the one who got away” from George before. She had a brief, gut-busting performance in Apatow’s “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” as a “drunk bitch” that ends up traumatizing poor Andy after drinking too much, but her most notable work was her performance as Nicky in “Knocked Up,” a characterization that was honest and beyond a simple description.

Eric Bana (from “Munich,” irony present) speaks with his native Aussie tongue so he can improvise more easily. I don’t ever remember seeing him do comedy in the past, but he has natural comedic instincts here. He is never interested in playing a two-dimensional character of any kind, and his work here is no exception. There is always a living, breathing person behind every character he plays (especially in his villain role as Nero in the new “Star Trek”), and he is one actor to keep watching. There is extraordinary talent present.

The rest of the cast contains only one Apatow veteran (Jonah Hill) with Jason Schwatrzman as George Simmons with the same outlook now stuck in his early career. He’s the lead actor in “Yo, Teach!” a “comedy” that should not have lived past the pilot. You only see bits and pieces of it, and wisely, you are not meant to like it. It seriously sucks.

The rest of the supporting cast aside, I feel I must mention one name; Aubrey Plaza as Daisy. Every single second she was on-screen, I believed whole-heartedly that she was a stand-up comedian. The glimpse we get of one of her routines serves as what I wish more stand-up would be like. I mean, her bit about rap music telling women what to do is one for the time capsule. Plaza doesn’t have much of a film resume, but we can only hope that she continues to work. Just watch the movie, and you’ll know what I mean.

Everything said, I was reminded of my time in New York City when every Sunday night, some of my roommates and I would go to the Upright Citizens’ Brigade for free stand-up and $2 Pabst Blue Ribbons. I was amused, I laughed a lot, but I never really wondered what was going on backstage. I never saw the comedians on the streets, I never spoke to them privately, but they seemed to serve as beacons for my entertainment in an area that isn’t exactly a go-to for me.

I don’t wish to spoil the plot, but I will say that it’s not typical of Judd Apatow to conclude this story the way he does, but upon reflection, I realized that Apatow is a born filmmaker and takes pride in destroying clichés while still making a movie that is true to itself. Maybe the laughs aren’t as consistent as they were in his earlier films, but what “Funny People” manages to accomplish is beyond simple entertainment. You’re left with a movie that sticks with you and serves as a reflection as to who exactly these ‘funny people’ are that we come to rely upon.

Rated R for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality. (Unrated DVD)
Buy it here.