Dying is easy. Comedy is hard. Dramatic People probably just wasn’t funny enough a title, but may have been more in keeping with the film and not what we have come to expect from Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, or Seth Rogen. That being said the movie does have some funny moments but pads the plotline.
George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is seemingly on top of the world. He’s a comedian whose lowbrow comedy films have made him a rich and famous man. He’s given a death sentence when it’s discovered that he has a rare form of leukemia and only has an eight percent chance to survive if some experimental Canadian medicines work for him.
Simmons decides to keep his condition secret but starts to enter back into his old haunt of stand-up comedy. The results are rather glum. Struggling stand-up comic Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) riffs on Simmons’ depressing set and also encounters the manic comedian in the parking lot. Simmons decides to hire Wright and his roommate Leo (Jonah Hill) to write him some jokes. Ira lies that Leo is busy but says that he’d be happy to help George out.
Leo is having much better success on the stand-up stage and their other roommate Mark (Jason Schwartzman) is on a popular television show, so Ira sees George’s offer as his chance at success. Through Ira’s presence, Simmons begins to reexamine his life and even tries to hookup with old flame Laura (Leslie Mann, Mrs. Judd Apatow - the lucky bastard) who is married to an Australian businessman (Eric Bana).
If you’re expecting a raucous comedy in Funny People, you might walk away disappointed. For a movie called Funny People, not much funny happens in the first half as George is given a pretty devastating diagnosis and pretty much a death sentence. The film does have some laugh-out-loud bits though.
I especially liked the gaggle of comedian cameos that comes to George’s side when he lets his condition out, especially a confrontation between Ray “I thought everybody liked you” Romano and Eminem.
Actually I was enjoying the film pretty much and thought it was coming to a close when I checked the running time to see that it had about another hour to go. The film then tacks on another premise that might’ve made a movie all its own, George going to Laura’s house and trying to rekindle his fizzled romance with her.
There are some funny bits in there too but the extended running time probably knocked a half a point off the rating for me since I glanced at the running time a few more times during this bit.
However, the massive amount of special features made up this road trip. The film does feature some solid performances with a good dramatic turn from Sandler and Rogen. Leslie Mann also gets a plumb role (I heard she slept with the director…) but her best bits are reserved for the bit of the film that I found a tad superfluous.
Funny People is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). You get both the theatrical cut and the unrated cut on disc one. All special features are in high definition unless noted.
Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, and Seth Rogen provide a commentary. The 75-minute “Funny People Diaries” is a four-part documentary that looks at the production of the film. You also get the two-part (totaling 11 minutes) “Line-o-rama” with alternative dialogue and a two-part gag reel (also totaling about 11 minutes).
The U-Control feature on the film puts up information about the songs featured on the film’s soundtrack when they appear in the movie if you select that option. This disc is also BD-Live enhanced.
Disc two starts off with 48 minutes of deleted scenes and 66 minutes of extended and alternative scenes. The Documentaries section contains the 21 minute “Raaaaandy!” about the comedian made famous by his appearance in the film (well, not really), the 3 minute “Judd’s High School Radio Show” (standard definition) about the interview show Apatow had in high school and the famous faces he asked questions of, and the 7 minute “James Taylor Behind-the-scenes” looks at the famous musician’s bit in the film.
The Music section has the 27 minute set from James Taylor from the film, the 14 minute “Adam and Jon Brian” set of songs from the film, the 4 minute “George Simmons will soon be gone” is the bleak song that the dying Simmons does during a set, and the 3 minute “RZA Podcast” looks at the musician’s cameo.
The Stand-up section contains the 42-minute “Funny People Live” stand-up concert Apatow aired to promote the film, and the 8-minute “George Stand-up MySpace” is Simmons routine from the event. You also get two character performances at the Los Angeles Improvisation club by Randy (5 minutes) and Ira (7 minutes).
The From the Archives section contains television appearances (all in standard definition), including Adam and Judd on the Midnight Hour (with Bill Mahr and guest Steve Allen) from 1991 (1 minute), Sandler’s first (6 minute) and second (6 minutes) appearances on David Letterman (both 1991), Adam at the Comedy and Magic Club (1988, 4 minutes), Seth’s stand-up at age 13 (1995, 4 minutes), and Judd on the Dennis Miller Show (1992, 4 minutes). Next are 6 minutes of clips from the films of George Simmons.
There are also 18 minutes of Prank Calls from 1990 that roommates Adam and Judd did. The duo also appear on a 2009 Charlie Rose Show (57 minutes) to promote Funny People. The “Yo’ Teach…!” contains an 8 minute behind-the-scenes about the fake sitcom and 13 minutes of episodes. The 5 minute “Kids on the Loose: the Sequel” is about the pitfalls and pride of casting your own children in your film.
The 3-minute “ADR Line-o-rama” has audio alternatives to several scenes. The 2-minute “George in Love” could be said to be a dirty Line-o-rama since it offers alternate bits to the movie’s sex scenes. Finally you get the 3-minute theatrical trailer.
Funny People tries to mix pathos with the laughs. They say a clown is always crying on the inside. The first half does a good job with the concept, but the second half feels tacked on to pad the lengthy running time. However, there are some fine performances in the film as well as a smattering of belly laughs. If only it ran 90 minutes. However the abundance of special features adds value content to the Blu-ray presentation.
Funny People [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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