Funny People

Adam Sandlers performance in Funny People is Oscar worthy, in my opinion. And I'll be surprised if he isn't nominated for the award.

This film is, by far, Judd Apatow's most matre and complete work. One can tell it's his most personal; family and friends make up most of the cast. The writing is excellent and the acting is poignant.

I admit I cried at least twice between the snorts and laughs brought on by the rest of the movie.


The aspect I enjoy most about a movie like Funny People is the opportunity for reflection it allows. Apatow seems to be working through conflict brought about by his recent success through this film. (That, or I'm reading too much into what the writer-director-producer did with this flick.) Success sometimes causes people to become isolated, and Sandler's character George Simmons is certainly that. Too often it takes a monumental event in our lives--the death of a loved one, the loss of a job or, as in this movie, the onset of a potentially terminal disease--to jar us out of that rut of isolation.

Apatow reminds us we're often happiest when we embrace others rather than hide from them.