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Reviews Counted:209
Fresh:142
Rotten:67
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Funny People features the requisite humor, as well as considerable emotional depth, resulting in Judd Apatow's most mature film to date.
Theatrical Release:28-08-2009
Synopsis: Over the past few years, writer/director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) has shown that nothing?not even losing your virginity or the miracle of childbirth?is sacred. About his... [More]
It's no pleasure to report that 'Funny People' self-destructs on the screen. In the end, Apatow might have been wise to heed his own words: Comedy is for funny people, not the mean-spirited, self-obsessed dopes we're left with here.
The script has unexpected jolts of substance and drama, so much so that too often there are long stretches between the laughs, all of which fuel the film's bloated 2.5-hour running time.
Judd Apatow gives old pal Adam Sandler a deep but still funny script that lets the comic-actor go where he's never gone before.
Messy, self-indulgent, intriguing -- but it only really comes alive when it focuses on the competitive 'friendship' of the actor-roommates played by Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman.
It's that very shagginess and earnestness... that makes the film, however clumsy, so charming.
...a perfect compliment to what is now the Apatow trilogy.
Bits strike out in every which way but are not long, deep or effective, so 'I Sell the Dead' develops neither momentum nor personality.
Funny People is an odd mixture of humanity, vulgarity, and soap opera. At its best, it is an engaging character study. At its worst, it is a crass, self-indulgent home movie.
Intermittently engaging yet problematic, undoubtedly confounding the expectations of the usual Apatow/Sandler audience.
Bitterly clear-eyed about the consequences of Apatowian perpetual adolescence, it's a dark movie that comes from somewhere deeply personal.
Apatow and Sandler chose not to wander far from their core teen male audience, even in this darkly comic film about a comic movie star reevaluating his life in the face of death.
feels like too little that's been strung out too far
Bromances like Funny People do a disservice to the friendship capabilities of straight men, making them seem stunted.
Who are these people? What possible connection do they have to anyone's life except those in their own rarefied circle of the overprivileged? And why should we care?
Expected Apatowian excesses aside, Funny People mostly pops as a comedy, even though its last two reels are gear-grindingly inefficient and misguided, lacking the pathos that made Sideways affecting.
Gangly, long, somewhat disjointed, but still very funny, I found "Funny People" surprisingly emotional, and even poignant.
Brilliantly funny bits complemented by a healthy dose of melancholia.
More well-observed and mature pic than the usual foul-mouthed Apatow naughty man-boy films.
Apatow packs enough decent jokes into an hour and a half to earn our affection. The problem is that after that hour and a half the movie goes on for nearly another hour, for a grand total of 2 hours and 25 minutes.
Sandler has great self-awareness and lets us laugh with him, at him and on occasion feel for a rich, spoiled superstar.
September 07, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis has a plan. "What I've decided is to choose recent films," he explains to RT. "I do think that often people get stuck in always saying the five greatest films of... More...
August 02, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Funny People Leads Sluggish Weekend
Comedy heavyweights Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow claimed the number one spot with their new dramedy Funny People which debuted to only moderate results leading the entire top... More...
August 01, 2009:
Has its moments but when bad things happen to funny people, they might not be that funny anymore. 
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July 31, 2009:
Friday Harvest: TRON Legacy, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and more!
Happy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become available for viewing/download on Rotten Tomatoes. Each section features the... More...
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