In renowned Director Judd Apatows third feature film, Funny People, follows the character of George Simmons (Adam Sandler), a world famousstand up comedian who dabbles in cheap cash in comedies to scrape up extra cash. After learning he has a rare form of leaukimia, George delivers a dark stand up show and is later mocked on stageby genuinely un-funnyIra Wright (Seth Rogan). George later tracks down Ira and offers him a job as his secretary, hoping to finally have a strong friendship with someone before his life ends. However, the plot soon turns remarkably when George learns that the high level of Red Bull and Experimental Drugs he has been using have cured him of his disease, and he sees life in a new light. Ditching his B-Movie roles and slutty one-night-stands, George goes after the only women he ever truly loved, Laura (Leslie Mann). Problem is, she's now married to Australian husband Clarke (played by Aussie Eric Bana), but is their marriage as strong as they had hoped?

As you can probably tell by my synopsis, Funny People is by far Apatows maturist film yet, and he has really proven that in the pursuit of comedy, nothing is sacred to him. The plot of the film is very interesting, showing George sick then later George on the mend. However the two dont really click as Georges recovery was summed up quite quickly in a matter of minutes. However this isnt to major an issue and doesnt effect the plot to badly. What is a major issue is the films length. Funny People clocks in at almost 3 hours in run time, and it really doesnt need to be as it lingers to long on unimportant issues, like establishing Georges one-night-stands ( a ten minute scene ) but not enough detail on Georges afformentioned recovery. Im still trying to figure out why Apatow didnt cut down the film, as around 30% of the film is unfunny, like some cheesy speeches at a 4th of July Celebration. Probably the most memorable consistent sequences were the hit or miss stand up scenes and the celebrity cameos (with the likes of Eminem, Ray Romano, Andy Dick).

The rest of the film is pure Apatow humour, bizzarre but real. And both Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan are great in their roles, despite some gravelly tone from Sandler. Rogan does a great job at ditching his formerly gross reputation (which he unfortunately re-adopted for his role in the poorly made Observe and Report - ill have a review up for it soon) and makes Ira sympathetic. Eric Bana's role as the Aussie Clarke is great, and some of the films greatest scenes involve him in some way (refering to Australians as people who "Just Kill Things" was a strong joke). Leslie Mann brings a great level of charm on-screen, and its clear that Apatow didnt pick her just because of their marriage as implied in her cameo in The 40 Year Old Virgin. The banter between the always great Jonah Hill and the cocky Jason Swartzman is incredibally good as Ira's more successful roomates. There's even the very nice inclusion of Apatows daughters, seen very memorbaly in Knocked Up, and their acting skills are very solid.

In creating a more mature film Apatow has definately sacrificed some his trademark humour, which is the main problem in Funny People. The extended length and darker tones really make Funny People nowhere near as great as Knocked Up or The 40 Year Old Virginas it is much more of a dramady then a comedy (see what i did there?). Its a shame as if Apatow had cut it down and some some better editing this really could have been a comdedy great. It really is hard to recommend Funny People as a must see like other comedies, and whats even worse is that its very hard to recommend as a rental due to its long length and unfunny (at times) material. Overall, Funny People is a great idea on paper, however the execution is very poor leading to a very strong let down of a comedy. Probably the only thing that salvages Funny People from total mediocrity is the great acting and decent humour for the most part, although its still a waste of watching time by most stretches of the imagination unless your an absolute Apatow Fanboy and cant miss any of his work.

Overall : 3/5 stars.