Not Funny People

As you know I'm an Apatow h8er and am still awaiting my first laugh generated by Seth Rogan, but I watched Funny People last night.

I was pleasantly surprised in the beginning - the darkness of a dying comedian going around for one last round of laughs was very intriguing and for some reason very believable, perhaps because of Sandler's great performance; one thing we've come to learn about him is that he is this generation's Robin Williams: shitawfully cringe-inducing when he's trying to be "funny," yet startling good when he's doing drama (or kind of drama.) And Rogan's earnestness was pitch perfect, and I'm in love with the girl the Rushmore guy fucked, who I believe is also the sole reason for watching NBC's Parks and Recreation.

But then the thing got bogged down in the whole "getting back with his ex" thing, which for some reason just reeked of "oh, get the fuck outta here." Instead of Sandler crushing all the anger that's left in him on the road being an asshole comedian and handing off his chops to Fozzie fucking Bear, we gotta sit through Hollywood 101 Will He Get the Girl? nonsense, during which everything inexplicably goes his way incredibly effortlessly except in the end, but by then nobody fucking cares since by then the fucking thing is 2 1/2 hours long, it's completely derailed off the redemption via standup comedy motif, and Rogan's over-the-top earnestness begins to grate. If this movie had been cut in half and just cut out the fucking ex-gf thing, I think I woulda liked it. But of course, Leslie Mann has to work, so Apashit sticks her in everyfuckingthing he does. And, like Jon Favreau, Seth Rogan just looks fucking weird when he's not a fat ass.