A Note to Judd Apatow: Top 5 Ways Funny People Could Have Been Brilliant Instead of Pretty Good
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The 40-Year-Old Virgin — 133 Minutes
Knocked Up — 133 Minutes
Funny People — 146 Minutes
After watching the pretty good, yet grueling Funny People over the weekend — the Film Savior staff has been wondering: Why the hell are Judd Apatow comedies so long?! Each of his 3 films could have easily been cut down to 2 hrs max, but for some reason Apatow falls in love with scenes/actors and can’t let go. The universal complaint about his latest film is that its too long. The sails lose wind about 2/3 of the way through and it becomes a marathon. See reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.
I will say that there are some great cameos along the way. Watch for the Ray Romano/Eminem scene. Hilarious.
***Below are some spoiler heavy (i.e. – don’t read if you haven’t seen the movie) ways that he could have made this film brilliant. 1. Cut Eric Bana out of the film COMPLETELY. OK, we get it. He is her macho, rugby loving, cheating, Australian husband. We learned that from conversation when she first visits George at his house. We learn nothing new about Bana’s character in the 25 minutes of screen time that he had. We get a scene of the 3 of them watching rugby. Another scene at the dinner table that should have been more of an awkward moment than it was. The next morning telling them to stay longer. The airport scene. Back at the house. It’s just too much.
2. Change the “which guy will she end up with” storyline all together. Throughout the film, we learn how complicated, lonely, and desperate George Simmons is. And he is an asshole, there is no question about it. Although they had a past together, why would Leslie Mann’s character ruin her entire family over a guy that already ruined her life? And all from one conversation. It could have been simple. George and Ira are eating dinner at her house. They see loving pictures of the family. George slowly gets the picture…she has moved on and he really screwed up. Instead, we get 45 minutes of scenes which turn into the same conclusion.
3. If you are going to cast your kids, don’t fall in love with every scene they are in. Apatow/Mann’s kids were in Knocked Up and now are in Funny People. They are cute kids and decent kid actors. I’m just not sure why they warranted as much screen time as Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman (who were great). We actually have to sit through one of the kids home videos singing Memory. Yes, it was a good performance. Obviously Apatow is proud. But cmon! 5 minutes could have been edited out by reducing their unnecessary screen time.
4. Narrow the “Ira wants Daisy“ storyline. It was funny at first. Schwartzman’s character gives Rogan’s character 10 days to “close the deal” with Daisy. The interaction between the two is hilarious. 2 hrs into the movie, we are still getting pummeled with this useless storyline. The focus should be on Rogan’s relationship with Sandler. Not Rogan’s relationship with 15 other characters in the movie.
5. If you must, make a sequel. Everyone else does it. Even when it’s not warranted. Watching Funny People felt like watching one film and then watching the sequel without the opening credits. Funny People (Part 1) is about Adam Sandler’s character finding out he has a rare disease and how he struggles to change his life and find clarity through humor during this turmoil. Funny People 2 is about Adam Sandler’s character trying to win back the girl he lost back in the day. Except he really doesn’t do anything to win her back. All he does is tell her 1) he has a disease and 2) he no longer has it. Not sure what else he did to win the heart of the girl.
