Funny People
Directed by Judd Apatow
- comedy
- drama
The story
Famous and wealthy funnyman George Simmons doesn't give much thought to how he treats people until a doctor delivers stunning health news, forcing George to reevaluate his priorities with a little help from aspiring stand-up comic Ira.
What it’s like
Warm, unhurried, and often mundane in its look: Judd Apatow shoots Los Angeles in bright daylight and cluttered interiors, with comfortable handheld coverage that lets awkward pauses and overlapping banter breathe, and stand-up sequences staged in dim clubs with a single hot spotlight against black. The palette runs to sun-faded beige, pool-blue and hotel-lobby brown, with the soft, slightly grainy texture of 2009 digital. The score is light and sparse, so the quiet hospital corridors and empty mansion rooms carry as much weight as the jokes. The mood is bittersweet comedy that tips into melancholy in its second half, suited to a slow weekend afternoon, a late evening alone, or a rewatch when you want laughs with an undercurrent of mortality. Pacing is loose and conversational, running long, with scenes that wander before landing a punchline. Emotionally it follows a successful, self-absorbed man slowly learning to look at the people around him, and a younger comic who sees him more clearly than anyone. Language is frequent and crude, with sexual jokes and some raunchy comedy; violence is minimal, and the illness is handled with candour rather than graphic detail. For people who like male friendship stories with honest, sometimes uncomfortable humour and a gentle, human ending.
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