Funny People

Editorial

Judd Apatow is better placed than anyone to write a behind-the-scenes comic drama. Nearly his whole life has been the biz: in his early teens he interviewed legends like Steve Martin and up-and-comers such as Jerry Seinfeld; a few years later, he did stand-up and was roommate to emerging talent Adam Sandler; and he's married to Leslie Mann.

So, Funny People, even with its disease-of-the-week fiction, can't help feel part autobiography/roman a clef and part stand-up/improv routine. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but its parts don't quite add up to the satisfying whole in the way of Knocked Up or Superbad.

The good thing is that, as delivered by Sandler, Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, and a parade of cameo players from Eminem to Sarah Silverman, this scatalogical talk is the comic equivalent of a jazzy riff.

But narratively, after the film's predictable twist, Apatow is not so much riffing as meandering. That's because George, with who the filmmaker least empathises, is our main man. If he goes one way, we're on the saccharine road to "life lessons learned". The other track takes us to downerville. Apatow's third choice feels smart and real, but the closing cover version of John Lennon's Watching The Wheels reinforces that it's taken us too long to go not far enough.

Still it's the journey, and there's a lot here to enjoy. Sandler's on top form, with a simple, direct performance that doesn't seem predicated on him "proving himself" dramatically. Schwartzman and Hill are bawdy supports to Rogen's affable but often hilarious moral centre. What's funniest about these people is that Eric Bana's Aussie actually elicits the most sympathy. Not sure what that's supposed to say about comedians.

Edwin Peters