RIP John Hughes :-(
I went into this film wanting to hate it because for the most part I've seen Seth Rogan in everything for the past year, and I have a real problem with people who can't act showing up in the movies I watch so fucking frequently. The only thing that sets Seth Rogan apart from Julia Roberts is he's actually sort of fun to watch in the same way that my old college roommate was fun to watch as he stumbled toward the window -stoned out of his gourd- and whizzed out the second floor window. I swear that never got old.
So consider my suprise upon discovering the thing I hate least about Funny People is Seth Rogan. It also was not Adam Sandler, who I haven't been able to watch in a film without vomitting since Punch Drunk Love, and had written off completely after that nauseating nightmare about the Zohan. Here he played a deadpan asshole of a character somewhat like his Punch Drunk performance, but this time with the emotional depth and range of an autistic donkey on sedatives. But to be fair, this is really his strength.
The joke sequences are funny enough though and you build some sympathy for Sandlers character early on as a nice guy who stumbles on hard times. Yes it's cliche, but Apatow isn't about stuningly original stories. He's about shit, dick, and fuck jokes, with some sprinkling of balls, usually while the characters are high. This is all incredibly funny stuff when you're stoned. And here he delivers in spades. So if it's not the acting, and it's not the comedy bits, what's keeping me from turning this into an all out Funny People love fest?
Well, what I hated most about Funny People was all of the bits in between. What does Apatow want this story to be? Where are the characters going and what lesson are they learning during the journey? I don't fucking know, and I sat through this whole thing to find out! Funny people is a movie within a movie within a movie and none of them have a conclusion worth giving a shit about. Maybe Apatow was trying to give the audience more value for their overstretched recession dollar, but ultimately it was just overwhelming and annoying. In the interest of completeness and brevity, here is a quick rundown of my impressions for each of the movies within this movie...
Number 1, Sandler gets sick, realizes his life is worthless, tries to buy friends, and gets better. Okay, that's a reasonably good plot for a movie, but he turns from nice guy to immense asshole. What the fuck?
Number 2, Seth Rogan is a strugling comedian who is begging for his big break and will screw over his friends to get it. But be careful of what you wish for Seth, fame and fortune have a dark side. Yet another good plot line for a movie, but at the end, Rogan is back to working the deli counter. He'd gone nowhere and learned nothing except how to give a performance that no longer includes female repelant fart jokes. Again, What the fuck?
Number 3, Sandlers long lost love learns of his illness and they reconnect, but she's married and needs to learn where her heart really lies. Oh fucking hell... I give up, what do you want Apatow? To bludgeon me with cliche plot lines and skull fuck my eye sockets with your twists and convergences as you weave these tales into a heaping pile of shit? It felt a bit like being lubed and ready to play naked twister but none of the hot girls you've invited over ever show up and you're left with nothing more than playing with yourself. Oww, watchout there, I think I got some Apatow spooge in my eye.
I don't feel like I'm delivering spoilers by saying the whiney apology at the end does not mean I'm going to forgive this film for stealing 2 hours and 15 minutes of my life. He even made fun of this concept about 200 pages earlier in the script! As soon as one plot element is introduced, and we get lured into caring, a twist or a convergent plot line destroy it. It's a lot like you're getting a hand job from the hot maid of honor at a wedding, and right after she tells you how she's never met anyone like you and how huge your mediocre cock is in her hand, she tells you she's a man. Assuming you're not into that kind of thing, that is. And if you are, then it's probably a lot like the twister thing, with less of a climax.
Anyway, I'm sure it was difficult and artistic to weave these wonderful stories in only the way Aptow could, but all it left me was frustrated and confused. In the end I just wanted all the characters to fuck off. Eminem was right, what Aptow should have done was let Sandlers character die. It would have cut the movie down by 45 minutes, cleaned up the rambling plots, and allowed us to enjoy the standup bits before forgetting them. It's a shame that some editor somewhere in the procession from written script to movie in the can, didn't say the same thing.
Overall, if you're the kind of person who likes movies about standup comedians, you could blow your money on this and probably walk out mildly ammused. But if you're the type to stop for a moment and think about the story, then do yourself a favor. Go out and get popcorn, or give the girlfriend who'd talked you into seeing Funny People a good snogging, but don't bother actually watching the screen for anything interesting or coherant after the first hour.
0 comments:
Post a Comment