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Movie Overview
Cast
• Adam Sandler
• Seth Rogen
• Leslie Mann
Director
• Judd Apatow
MPAA Rating
R - for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality.
Video/DVD Releases
Nov 24, 2009 (DVD)
Funny People (2009)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 68% Fresh
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2.5/4
"The Adam Sandler persona is subjected to careful dissection and revealed at last as a self-obsessed a*#hole whose childlike whimsy and offhand charm can no longer make up for a lack of regard for anything outside of his limited worldview."  Slant Magazine  Andrew Schenker

3/5
"Not classic, but a highly inventive and entertaining look at the fears and tears of a clown"  Filmcritic.com  Bill Gibron

A-
"Funny is far more acidic and remorseless than anything Apatow has attempted before. It's a terrific motion picture, with keen insight into the mind of the stand-up comic at his most game, blistered, and vulnerable."  BrianOrndorf.com  Brian Orndorf

A-
"...the funniest movie of the year."  ColeSmithey.com  Cole Smithey

C+
"More well-observed and mature pic than the usual foul-mouthed Apatow naughty man-boy films."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

"Bits strike out in every which way but are not long, deep or effective, so 'I Sell the Dead' develops neither momentum nor personality."  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Donald J. Levit

2/4
"Needlessly over-bloated, lumbering from one scene and subplot to the next without any sense of urgency or forward-motion. Once Judd Apatow realizes that less is sometimes emotionally and substantively more, he and his films will be all the better for it."  DustinPutman.com  Dustin Putman

B
"Hilarious when it tries to be, serious otherwise, but never maudlin or weepy."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

3.5/4
"Sandler has turned in his best performance to date and Apatow has joined the ranks of other distinguished writer/directors like James L. Brooks and Cameron Crowe."  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

B-
"The weakest of the three films Apatow has directed -- though certainly not of the dozens he has produced -- but its shortcomings feel like growing pains rather than diminishing returns."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

"'Please feel sorry for me' buttons don't make great comedy"  CinePassion  Fernando F. Croce

B-
"Overlong and undeniably self-indulgent, with some brilliant high spots punctuating more mediocre material and a close that's a letdown. But it has enough perception and laughs to merit a visit."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

3/5
"A mixed bag comedy about a celebrity who seeks meaning in his life after finding out that he has a terminal illness."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

"Apatow has to be one of the most inefficient storytellers in Hollywood, and it's amazing that he gets away with it film after film."  The L Magazine  Henry Stewart

2.5/4
"It's refreshing to see Apatow branching out and trying something off the beaten path but, in this case, his sense of ambition may have caused him to lose his way."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

2/4
"feels like too little that's been strung out too far"  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

4/5
"""Funny People," may not be Apatow's funniest movie; however, and more interestingly, it is his best film, deep and rich and unexpectedly honest while still being remarkably funny.""  MSN Movies  James Rocchi

3/4
"A newer, more mature chapter in the Apatow book and I like what I see."  Palo Alto Weekly  Jeanne Aufmuth

"Parental Content Review"  Screen It!  Jim Judy

2.5/4
"This isn't the type of comedy we've come to expect from Judd Apatow. And that's fine. But while this labor-of-love is at times bittersweet and raucously funny, it's also an over-long, meandering mess."  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

"The good parts of this movie are often wonderful, but Apatow never finds the rhythm to keep it going. It lurches from inspiration to inspiration, but always manages to muddy its feet in mediocrity in between, as it drags on toward the two-and-a-half-hour"  Film.com  Jonathan F. Richards

3/5
"click for full review"  Movies for the Masses  Joseph Proimakis

3/5
"plays out like a Jim Jarmusch film about stand-up comics with lots of celebrity cameos, some classic zingers and a cancer storyline"  7M Pictures  Kevin Carr

3.5/4
"Judd Apatow's funniest, best film so far."  Montreal Film Journal  Kevin N. Laforest

B+
"The humor in the stand up routines is actually pretty bad for the most part, and yet Apatow makes the humor organic, the fun in watching the "Funny People" who perform it being 'themselves' amongst themselves."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

"[T]he Apatow TV project this bleak but shrewd movie harkens back most to is The Larry Sanders Show... [T]he Hollywood funny people weren't funny there, either..."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

3.5/5
"Perhaps Simmons is the man Apatow fears he will become. If so, with Sandler's help the filmmaker's fashioned a solid work of self reflection. There's plenty to love and laugh along with here."  Film Threat  Matthew Sorrento

3/4
"Apatow marries his edgier, raunchier humor with some more serious, thoughtful ideas and a gentler touch."  TheMovieReport.com  Michael Dequina

3/5
"It should probably have been apparent to Apatow, well versed in the structure of comedy on film, that it was far too long."  Goatdog's Movies  Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

4/4
"Hilarious while also being poignant and wise, Funny People is, hands down, my favorite movie of the summer."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

B-
"What starts out as an intriguing dance between two different themes ends up as a brawl in which crass and shallow wins by a TKO in the 23rd round."  Beliefnet  Nell Minow

C+
"In its home stretch, Funny People's action drags so unnecessarily that it ... drains any impact from its refreshingly pragmatic view of second chances."  Lessons of Darkness  Nick Schager

3/5
"Despite this film's sharp dialog and terrific story, its bloated, undisciplined editing keeps it from being a classic."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

B
"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."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

7/10
"Intermittently engaging yet problematic, undoubtedly confounding the expectations of the usual Apatow/Sandler audience."  SSG Syndicate  Susan Granger

7/10
"It's that very shagginess and earnestness... that makes the film, however clumsy, so charming."  Antagony & Ecstasy  Tim Brayton

1/4
"a movie about freaks and geeks written by a famous millionaire married to Leslie Mann; is it any wonder that it loses its way?"  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw
OFCS Rating: 68% Fresh
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