I hate that Funny People is 25 minutes too long, because it does a couple of amazing things. From his album They’re All Gonna Laugh at You through a few years after Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler was a comedy God. I laughed so hard the first time I heard “The Buffoon and the Dean of Admissions” that I farted placenta. But at some point around ‘97, he seems to have decided he didn’t give a sh*t anymore and started doing a string of increasingly sappy, unfunny paycheck abortions like Click and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. The only glimmers of talent came in dramatic roles like Spanglish and Punch Drunk Love, in which he proved he could act, but didn’t really seem like himself, like he was just trying to prove a point.
Funny People not only reminds us what Sandler looks like when he’s doing honest comedy — and by that I mean comedy that he himself finds funny rather than “You want me to do a silly voice again? Fine, I’ll do the a voice again. Lap it up, you pigs.” — but combines it with the Sandler who can act. Not only that, the story is the kind of pointed, meta-fictional take on his life that JCVD could’ve been for Van Damme if it hadn’t devolved into such a pretentious euro wankfest. I hate to be a reactionary, but while I was writing this I noticed other people calling Funny People Entourage with Cancer, and I felt compelled to point out all the differences between this and Entourage.
1. Decent writing
2. Decent acting
3. Conflict
4. Likable characters
5. The celebrity character in Funny People is famous for having an actual skill
6. The minor characters are trying perfect an actual skill, and aren’t driven by the sole desire to be famous, or to hang out with famous people, or to help the main character get more famous
7. No one talks about shoes or cars, not even once
Judd Apatow recently filmed an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio that airs tonight, in which he shows up looking all clean cut like a 6th grader on picture day while James Lipton is his usual eccentric, sycophantic self. In this clip, Apatow reveals that the scene in Knocked Up where Katherine Heigl kicks Seth Rogen out of the car on the way to the gynecologist was actually autobiographical.
APATOW: One thing I thought would be fun would be to sort of capture the intensity of some of these moments between couples. And just how heated it gets. I think at the time I was realizing just how frustrating I was to be around.
LESLIE MANN (Apatow’s wife): I did throw him out of the car on the way to the gynecologist.
APATOW: And that is a complicated moment, because I have no money, and I’m five miles from the gynecologist…
MANN: How did you do that?
APATOW: I took a cab.
MANN: How did you pay?
APATOW: I blew the guy.
Apatow and Mann go all Abbot and Costello at the end there, but you can tell they were super pissed at each other at the time. That’s rough. I’ve never had to hitchhike five miles to the gynecologist, but I have been kicked out of the examination room for making foghorn sounds. And impersonating a doctor.
When you’re a big Hollywood director, giving major roles in your movies to your wife is pretty standard, and can lead to things like Rose McGowan playing the queen of England. “Excuse me, like, this throne is totally chafing my vag.” Luckily Judd Apatow was smart enough to marry Leslie Mann, who just so happens to be freaking adorable. The latest clip from Apatow’s Funny People has Mann getting into an argument with Eric Bana, who plays her husband, and badly mimicking his Australian accent. Maybe it’s just me, but even when she’s playing a total bitch, whenever she’s on screen I get the overwhelming urge to start a tickle fight. I guess what I’m saying is, I’d let her pee on me. What? It’s sterile.
Yahoo just released this clip (after the jump) of Funny People director Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler talking about Funny People, and how Seth Rogen’s character’s relationship with Adam Sandler in the movie is kind of like Apatow’s relationship with Sandler back in the 80s/early 90s (PS, that picture couldn’t get any gayer if they were standing 69-ing and listening to Lady Gaga). Anyway, I didn’t watch the whole thing because I’m really excited for this movie and I don’t want to spoil my appetite and I have a really really good feeling about this one, and I don’t care so judge me all you want you big meanie.
I know Adam Sandler is known mostly for making awful movies nowadays, but I still remember where I was when I first heard “The Buffoon Meets with the Dean of Admissions” like it was the goddamn Kennedy assassination. It was kind of like the day I went through comedic puberty. I guess what I’m saying is that no matter how many times he lets us down, there’ll always be some tiny part of me that’s waiting for Adam Sandler to stop sucking and be my hero again. For youngish comedy writers, Adam Sandler is our OJ.
Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) went on Ellen the other day to promote 17 Again and told a story about how her co-star Zac Efron agreed to call her daughter Maude (her and her sister were the best part of Knocked Up) on her 10th birthday. It’s as annoying as you might imagine a group of 10-year-old girls to be (God I hope I don’t have daughters), but she redeems herself seconds later when she knocks some little dude on his ass for no reason. What’s he doing at a party with a bunch of screaming girls anyway? I can’t decide if he’s a little pimp or an Efron in training. Depends on whether his last name has a hyphen, I think.
[via videogum]
