Funny People (2009)
Usually when I give a glowing score to this sort of film, I have to preface it by saying "Okay, so I know this movie really isn't all that, but it's a favourite, so..." (see: High Fidelity). Not this time.
Easily Apatow's best work, this is his first truly Great film. While it is a long, sprawling movie, it is so rich with character detail I don't think there's much that could be cut without hurting the story. The acting is exceptional from everyone, and while I had my doubts about Mann going in (wife-casting rarely works), she really delivers. It's career-best work for all three leads.
My favourite quality of the film was that, after drawing laughs from the troubles of life-losers like perpetual virgin Andy and super-stoner Ben, Apatow casts his gaze on a man who should be the image of success and finds that he has worse problems than any of them. In dealing with death, isolation and regret become major themes in the film: while George is quick to make nerd-jokes at a MySpace gig ("The more friends you have on MySpace, the less you have in real life!"), his life is not much different. He doesn't have time for computers, but celebrity has the same effect -- the more people love you, the more hopelessly alone you become. Indeed as the film went on, George reminded me more and more of Daniel Plainview, a likeable man despite his glaring flaws, who's lost touch with humanity at the cost of success. The difference is, this cold heart longs to be redeemed.
The movie will come under fire for it's third act, or The San Fransisco Chapter. This is where the movie dials down the humour (not completely, but the dick jokes fly with less frequency) as the George/Laura drama ramps up. While this might not be what people are expecting from an Apatow film, it works. All of it. The movie often flirts with cliche, but resolves itself in natural, realistic ways. The airport sequence especially is one big movie cliche that gets flipped on its head, much like it would in reality. It's awkward and messy, but so is life, and every character here truly feels like a real person.
A very personal film for me. I loved it.
97/100
