Does your act just design to make sure no girl will ever sleep with you?

Salutations everyone Im the movie encyclopedia and if no one else will see it, I will.

Part 2 of my movie wrap up is here with the third last movie I saw which is still prominently playing in most theatres right now: Funny People, which I saw 8/1/09.

Funny People is the new comedy from director/writer/producer Judd Apatow. You may know him as the director and writer of The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up but he has produced many hits such as Superbad, Pineapple Express, Step Brothers and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But now he is back in the directors chair with his new opus based around stand up comedy. And just to get it out of the way, yes they are funny people.

I really enjoyed everything about this film from the first minute. Adam Sandler plays Gene...i mean George Simmons, a stand-up comedian turned multi millonaire actor who is stuck in a rut making horrible films *cough bio pic cough* He has just learned he has a potentially terminal blood disease and decides to laugh it off at a comedy club. When he gets there his act is like an emo persons journal. Shocked, Ira Wright (played by the always loveable Seth Rogan) pokes fun at him during his set. Later the next day he gets a call from George saying he wants him to write jokes for him and be his new assistant. Ira accepts quickly and they soon become quick frenemies. Ill explain why in a minute. Over the course of the next few months he gets reaquainted with his old flame (Leslie Mann-Judd Apatow's wife) and he wishes he had another chance to get "The one that got away."

Sounds like a pretty good synopsis huh? Well it works really well. The film stays consistantly funny with not a long period of time going by without something funny or witty said. Most of the humor tends to be classic Apatow blue but he does introduce something new in this movie: smart, intelligent humor! Among that he also introduces an extremly new technique: mature drama! This is the first Apatow movie Ive seen that feels mature and deep while still in the Apatow form. Sandler's performance especially is intriguing.

Sandler has had some issues in the past years. His big one is his agent! He makes these overdramatic movies like Punch Drunk Love or Spanglish and his only attempts at comedy are childish like Bedtime Stories or Zohan or they tend to be taking themselves too seriously like Click. Sandler is a really funny guy! Watch Billy Madison, Happy Gillmore, 8 Crazy Nights, any of them! He is funny. He can DO drama too but usually it is hit and miss. Reign Over Me was his best dramatic role by far and it showed his depth as an actor. But at the same time look at the above mentioned films. HIT AND MISS. In Funny People, however, he balances it well. He can be extremly funny and when he's serious he gets really serious. That's also where the frenemies part comes in. Ira and George get along pretty well and they seem to be pals but in those serious moments they can truly hate each other with a passion. That just adds to the depth of the film.

I wont try to ramble on much longer but in the end its a well made movie with a good cast, good writing, a deep maturity, a realistic approach to life, and its just plain funny! My only two complaints with the movie are the fact that it is TWO AND A HALF HOURS LONG (a bit too long to me) and that most of the supporting cast seems to be tossed aside and barely used which is a shame because most of the supporting cast is great.

MY RATING: OWN IT