A late review, but for those who haven't seen it yet. Also my First Post! Funny People.

If a really funny comedy like Knocked Up and a tear jerking drama like The Wrestler met and had a baby, that baby might be named Funny People. What type of a movie is Funny People? Some people may call it a dark comedy, some may call it a dramedy. But that still doesn't seem to describe what type of movie Funny People really is. We've all seen movies that deal with very serious situations in comical ways, many times its a dysfunctional family or relationship that is funny because the situations created are just uncomfortable and the viewer has to laugh to survive the film. A prime example of this is The Royal Tenebaums. Another is the Cable Guy. When I saw these movies, I was able to tell my friends that these movies were dark comedies and I felt, I'd described them justly. I feel like a classic dark comedic moment is when someone is suddenly hit by a bus and they're body goes flying in some crazy direction. Don't judge me. We all know what I talking about, when some one is in the middle of a crazy arguement but is then drilled my an unexpected bus, we all kind of laugh at the moment. Kind of a "Holy Shit, did that just happen?!" thing. Its funny in that it was strange to look at and unexpected but dark because someone just got destroyed by a freaking bus! Funny People is not one of those kind of movies at all. There were times when I was laughing so hard i had a hard time hearing the next line, but then there were times when I was so sad and moved that I wanted to cry or scream. There were even times in one scene where one line would make me laugh and the very next one would make me want to cry. None of the main characters are totally good and totally bad. They are all grey. Every character does things that make you want to root for them and hug them, but they also do things that make you want to knock the shit out of them. No main character avoids this conundrum. Its the dynamic characters that make movies interesting, at least to me. Yes, the actual plot does matter, and the visual aspects of the film. But without interesting characters, even the greatest plot can be spoiled. Funny people takes as serious a subject as there is out there. Death. And loneliness. And failure. And somehow still gets you to laugh hysterically. For this I give all the credit to writer/director Judd Apatow. He is most known for his everyday guy "guy comedies" like 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Hes also been behind the scenes of Superbad. All of these movies are silly. They feature schlubby guys that every one likes and relates to and they all have penis jokes. And they all have multiples f-bomb droppings. But people laugh their asses off at his films. Having created films that feature a guy peeing on his own face because he has a boner, one would not necessarily think that a person could effectively and humorously deal with the serious themes that Funny People does. This movie navigates the serious topics with very well placed jokes, mostly deflective, but well placed. The audience feels the relief and deflection just like the characters do. When things are getting too serious for a character, that character makes does some thing funny, sometimes on purpose as in a deflective joke, and sometimes just because the comedians in this movie could make reading a phone book funny. But the comedy helps the audience from getting too emotional in many scenes. The casting in this film is almost perfect. Adam Sandler plays a character that is, well, Adam Sandler, just a dying, ass holier version. Seth Rogen who is a a young jewish comedian who as recently lost a lot of weight, plays a young jewish comedian who as recently lost a lot of weight. Leslie Mann, who is Judd Apatow's smokin' hot wife, who you might recognize as the girl that pukes on Steve Carrell's character while she is drunk driving in 40-Year Old Virigin, plays a really hot former actress, who the audience will immediate fall in love with. Then there's the supporting cast, of Jonah Hill, the fat kid from Superbad, who does his normal fat, spazz, smart ass thing as one of Seth Rogen's roommates. Jason Schwartzman plays another roommate, who I didn't think was funny at all, and actually was the only character i never wanted to hug but just wanted to punch. and it was just because I thought his character kind of sucked as person. Eric Bana was a curious casting decision to me, mainly because he is the only non-comedian of the main characters. Although, (trivia fact of the day) he did get his start in Australia doing comedy. He is kind of a wacky super Australian. And while you aren't really suppose to love his character, there's definitely a scene involving a rugby match that is quite hilarious. Then there are Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann's daughters who play Leslie Mann's daughters in the film. These are also the adorable daughters of Leslie Mann's character in Knocked Up, just a little older and a little less adorable. The biggest surprise to me was an actress Aubrey Plaza, who plays a love interest, but who has the driest, most smart ass attitude I've seen in a while. Almost to the point of being a huge bitch, but shes not, she toes the line perfectly between being another one I just wanted to punch and one that I really actually end up loving. Funny People is a weird movie. Its impossible to describe in one sentence or less. If you go to the theater expecting to laugh like you did in Knocked Up, you're going to be disappointed. If you expecting to have some emotional tear jerking experience ala The Notebook, you're going to be disappointed. If you only like happy endings, well, you may or may not be disappointed. But if you want to see a dynamic movie. If you are tired of watching movies that follow the same old formula. If you want to watch a movie that makes you think about it afterwards, you'll like it. I'm still trying to decide whether i really liked the movie or not. It may require multiple viewings like a classic Coen Brothers flick. Regardless, of whether you like the movie or hate it, Funny People is definitely a change of pace for any movie watcher.