M B
It's the oddest thing when a really good movie is made, and then, they just forget to end it, so the actors stay on the screen and keep going. Really, this is what happened with this movie.
A really good, interesting plot, with Adam Sandler basically playing himself, and a supporting cast of everyone who was funny at the time. A touching story, and you really care about everyone, and then, the plot is resolved and then...
The movie just keeps going. So weird. If you just stop watching it at the 90 minute mark, you're good.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/06/24
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Larry K
A different take on the usual Adam Sandler movie. Still kicks ass
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
12/09/23
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Sanad A
When Sympathy Turns to Confusion
It's hard to fathom Judd Apatow's intentions. Is this meant to be a serious comedy? Adam Sandler takes center stage in this bewildering endeavor. He delivers his best performance yet, but the character he portrays is, to be honest, quite unpleasant. This individual has achieved fame and fortune, yet lacks any depth of character. He is a lazy, ignorant, foolish, self-pitying, spoiled, uneducated, and dim-witted individual, and the list goes on. What's strange is that the story is structured in a way that suggests we should sympathize with him, even relate to his situation. At the start of the film, he is told he has a fatal disease, but miraculously he recovers, and then we are subjected to another hour of the movie where new characters are introduced. I wanted to flee the theater and scream. There are a few humorous moments, and Jason Schwartzman and Eric Bana deliver strong performances. However, could someone please explain to me, what on earth was this?
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
10/29/23
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Steve O
Star Spangled - "seriously funny" look at what comedy is - thought provoking about what relationships mean - values, priorities, life, and avoided cliches.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
09/17/23
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Jeff N
I avoided this when it came out. The word of mouth reaction was bad, so I didn't give it a chance.
After seeing it, I think they botched the marketing. Another Judd Apatow comedy... but that isn't this.
This is more of an Apatow attempt at doing a take on the Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment.... only this time focusing on a flawed and lonely male protagonist instead of a lovable dying beauty.
It has some of the same element of comedy setting up tragedy... but the highs are not as high and the lows are not as low. It is a midlife crisis of a movie, about regret, the difficulty of personal growth, loyalty... there is a lot going on here.
It is way better than I expected. It isn't going to be for everyone. It isn't really an Adam Sandler movie, or a Seth Rogan movie, even though they play characters that are close to their past roles and even autobiographical enough in Sandler's case to seem like that is where we are headed. No, this is a movie of an older man who is dealing with regret. Sandler regrets his choices... but so does his ex, and so does her husband. They are all dealing with regret over bad choices, and they are given a moment to make new choices.
And this is where the movie elevated for me. It got a bit slow in the middle, but that was showing us that Sandler's character was not ready for the family life he thought he wanted. But he doesn't figure that out. And that leads to the denuomont.
This moment reminded me of Castaway. It is the one thing I really hated in that movie. Tom Hanks comes back to find that he has lost everything. The love of his life that got him through everything has moved on, is married and has kids. That is all we know about her. She has a wonderful family.
And she runs out to leave it all to go back to her old flame. After a few minutes, she figures it out and goes back inside... but the unstated damage to her marriage is done.
Funny people handles the same scenario much differently and much better.
We understand Sandler. He has a hollow life, moving from empty one night stand to empty one night stand. He has a terrible back story that explains his difficulty with relationships.. he has none at all with his family. And he gets almost certainly fatal cancer. This propels him to look back and reach out to the one person he connected with and almost made a commitment before his flaws kicked in and he ruined it.
At the same time, we meet the love of his life. We see her pain that his actions caused. But we also see that she is in a flawed marriage, and trust has been broken. Time apart is not helping them. She already has doubts before Sandler shows up. It is his terminal disease that softens her heart towards him.
This depth of development makes her betrayal of her mariage believable. And it isn't resolved quickly or easily. She doesn't ride off with her old love. Sandler doesn't get the girl. The husband doesn't get off Scott free. But the couple learns what is important through the experience. And our hero does not.
At least, not right away. He lashes out, focused only on himself.... it is a real and believable response. And it takes him a good amount of time to think about his mistakes and what kind of person he wants to be. And we finish with baby steps, reaching out to a paid friend and for the first time showing growth... and it is through helping him with his comedy. A complete twist of the romantic tragedy, where the true love story is a buddy movie where our hero learns from his mistakes and begins to work on being an actual friend.
Is it perfect? No. But it is a very different story, with very believable psychological situations where people make very bad choices in very real ways. It was way better than I had been led to believe, and way less of a comedy than I think people thought it was going to be.
I'm glad I finally gave it a chance.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
09/18/23
Full Review
Jeffrey K
This film deserves a rewatch!
Similar to Jennifer's Body, the marketing leading up to the release of this film had audiences going in expecting something different from what they got.
What they walked away out of the theater from was a drama which borderlines on tragedy, focused on comedians (played by actual comedians) with themes of loneliness, regret, misguided attempts at happiness, fidelity, trust, family, friendship, marriage. It's got a lot going for it, and it conveys these high-risk themes in a way that, perhaps, only a 'funny person' could truly find relatable. But if that's you, oh man, does it hit home hard.
If you haven't watched it since it first came out, pay it another visit. You may find it much more accomplished than you originally thought.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
09/15/23
Full Review
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