FUNNY PEOPLE (Blu-ray; Universal)

Mike LoManaco

Studio Name: Universal
MPAA Rating: N/A
Disc/Transfer Information: Widescreen 1.85:1
Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring Cast: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana

LoMANACO'S PLOT ANALYSIS:

When you’re in the presence of a Judd Apatow film, it’s been established, through this visionary comedy director’s track record of cranking out mostly hilarious laugh fests, that you’re in for a pretty wild ride – the seminal 40 Year Old Virgin still manages, these years later, to inspire inferior copycats (in terms of style) in addition to breaking the “short shelf life” cycle of these kinds of films. The gags still work, Steve Carell's rendition of the main character is still spot-on and the interaction of all the characters is still considered dead funny. In following up with other gems like Knocked Up, Apatow seemed to be on a roll, almost creating a “genre within a genre” in the comedy sector; “Apatow” became synonymous with “ridiculously over-the-top” in terms of subject matter, and it happened rather quickly. I, myself, became a fan of this filmmaker’s work – a big fan – and looked forward to anything he routinely pitched and subsequently made through Universal Studios.

But something went awry with the much-ballyhooed Funny People, in which Apatow teamed up his usual cast members the likes of Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jason Schwartzman et. al and added a main performance by the seminal Adam Sandler…it just didn’t work. To begin with, the film is just ridiculously and unnecessarily too long – this was the same issue I had with Knocked Up and although the length kind of worked with 40 Year Old Virgin, it was way too daunting and exhaustive in Funny People. The premise wasn’t even funny in my opinion, and the cast didn’t gel – especially the hokey performance by Eric Bana as a bumbling Australian husband to Leslie Mann’s character. The film opens with grainy and foggy sequences of Sandler and a pal making Jerky Boys-like prank phone calls, and delves right into the main plot – that is, Rogen as a struggling standup comic doing mostly Improv gigs in Los Angeles and living with two goofy roommates (another Apatow staple) portrayed by Schwartzman and the always-hysterical Jonah Hill. In my opinion, it’s Hill that always steals the show in these comedies; he’s greatly underrated and his quick deliveries like in Knocked Up in the hospital delivery room of “Dude…I gotta get the **** outta here…” are really priceless. At any rate, Rogen sleeps on the pullout bed in his roommates’ living room, until he ends up running into famous actor/comedian Adam Sandler, who catches Rogen’s act one night at the local Improv. From there, in an odd twist of fate, Sandler’s character asks Rogen to write some jokes for him for an upcoming show he has to do in front of MySpace executives, and when the crowd seems to take to Rogen’s jokes, Sandler ends up hiring him to be some kind of strange assistant, running errands for him and hanging out with him as Sandler bangs random chicks in his mansion and swimming pool.

Meanwhile, a sub plot involving Sandler being diagnosed with a form of leukemia develops, and when he thinks he doesn’t have long to live, he seeks out his ex, played by Leslie Mann. Mann is married now to a bore of an Australian meathead, played by Eric Bana, but eventually they hook back up and when Bana is away on business, Sandler dives between those delicious thighs of hers and goes to town. Rogen, in the middle, is dragged to this impromptu reconnection between Sandler and Mann, and ends up playing with her kids (like he did in Knocked Up), and all this just drags the running time out even longer. It seems Mann was giving Sandler some nookie when she thought he was dying of this disease; eventually, Sandler drags Rogen into the doctor’s office when he gets the news that the reports were inaccurate. In the middle, there are sequences involving Schwartzman, Hill and some chick Schwartzman bangs behind Rogen’s back and Sandler coming to Thanksgiving dinner at the trio’s L.A. apartment; I don’t know…I started to lose interest at this point, to be honest.

Funny People was a true dud from a camp that knows how to make better comedy than this – notable embarrassing moments came in the form of Bana coming home to find out that Mann screwed Sandler, and physically man-handling him in a brawl on their front lawn, in addition to Rogen rushing to San Francisco International Airport to warn Bana that Mann was coming to meet him there from his trip; it was actually painful to watch Bana run around spewing threats and ramblings in his uber-thick Australian accent while brooding like a chimp in heat as he tackled Sandler to the ground. Ridiculous.

Further, there was an underlying homosexual theme going on here that I didn’t quite get nor was comfortable with; there were a plethora of “****” and “dick” and “let me see that big dick” comments made by Sandler’s character, and this went on throughout the film quite regularly – it wasn’t entertaining in the least, and I didn’t understand Apatow’s point with it. The pacing, acting and dialogue delivery were also all quite strange in Funny People and it didn’t smack of a Judd Apatow film in the slightest. There was also an odd scene which featured recording star Eminem, in which the wigger-turned-pop phenomenon tells Sandler’s character that he should have just died off from his disease instead of getting back with Mann and dealing with everything else his new-found health has brought; I didn’t know what to make of this sequence.



VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:

Universal has been a major driving force in the Blu-ray crusade in terms of consistent video quality; their discs have often been of the most vibrant, grain-free, visually tactile variety, but while sharp in most places, Funny People didn’t look as good as their previous efforts. Of course, this could have all been source material issues – but the opening frame exhibited noisy, grainy and downright poor looking qualities, yet eventually opened up into clearer images. Outdoor sequences, which usually fare the best in 1080p encodes, weren’t quite as rich and embellished with deep color as most comedies on Blu-ray are; they were on the washed-out side with slightly overblown whites and under saturated colors.

Grain appeared in many sequences, as did an unnatural digital noise that occurred in some frames. This wasn’t a bad transfer in any sense of the word, really, it’s just didn’t rival – by a long shot actually – any of Universal’s best.

AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:

In usual Universal fashion, Funny People was equipped with an English 5.1 DTS Master Audio track which served the material well, but wasn’t overwhelming in any particular area. Some select Improv comedy club scenes were accentuated with crowd and ambient audio cues, and perhaps some other random moments of all-channel activity were present, but in general, this was an average track commonly found attached to films of this genre. There didn’t appear to be any dialogue intelligibility issues.

This wasn’t nearly as good as Apatow’s other comedies which have come before it. It was way too long at over two hours – a good deal over two hours – and you can literally fall asleep on it if you’re up late viewing it. If you must, rent it, but I certainly cannot recommend a purchase.

Knucklehead

I thought it was worth a watch. I probably wouldnt add it to my collection though. As far as the 2 disc set.....your right X- people will buy anything.

David

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

Thanks for the review and warnings concerning this product.
It a very valuable to have this movie reviewed for what it is.

Why in the world would a movie like this warrant a 2 disc Blu-ray version?
Hollywood must really believe the public will buy anything.

Thank you Capri.

I have no idea why this title warrants a two-disc edition, but that is something I have pondered regarding a roster of other releases -- I suppose the pairing of Sandler with Apatow's usual casting was call for some behind-the-scenes information and such, but I feel the way you do.

Did you actually see this, or are you basing it on the review?

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

No I haven't seen this movie, but your review being as thorough as it is, gave me an excellent impression of what this movie was like. Thank you for that.

You are quite welcome. Thank you for your thoughts!

If you do get a chance to see it, please let me know what you think.

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

I will if I get a copy. Right now I have a stack of movies - new and vintage releases on Blu-ray that are in line to be watched.

Like what...can you give me an idea of the titles?

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

Yes, not in any order but my backlog list includes the following:
All Blu-ray unless designated (DVD)
- Gandhi (Just watched)
I enjoy these historical movies and Ben Kingsley was just phenominal in it.
It was his masterpiece as an actor. Candice Bergen looked hot.
- Avatar
- The Quick and the Dead
- The Hurt Locker
- The Incredible Hulk
- Tony Jaa Onk Bak 2
- The Boondock Saints
- The Boondock Saints II
- Patton (Looking forward to this Blu-ray version)
- The Graduate
- In the Valley of Elah (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Play Misty For Me (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Play The Eiger Sanction (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Googan's Bluff (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood The Beguiled (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Escape from Alcatraz (DVD)
- Reservoir Dogs (DVD)
- Edward Scissorhands (DVD)

It is a good list to get through and more are on their way.
What do you think? Any favorites among them?

Of this list, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ is a favorite of mine, and a favorite city/attraction (San Francisco/Alcatraz island) -- Paramount's DVD transfer isn't the best for this amazing film, nor is the English mono soundtrack, but it's adequate...did you buy this?

Also a favorite is THE INCREDIBLE HULK; great re-imagining of the Ang Lee version which was terrible in my opinion, especially with Eric Bana in the lead as Banner. Edward Norton in Louis Lettier's version wasn't quite right either, but this second attempt was better in many ways. RESIVOIR DOGS and PLAY MISTY FOR ME are classics too.

hearingimpared

xcapri79 wrote: »

Yes, not in any order but my backlog list includes the following:
All Blu-ray unless designated (DVD)
- Gandhi (Just watched)
I enjoy these historical movies and Ben Kingsley was just phenominal in it.
It was his masterpiece as an actor. Candice Bergen looked hot.- Avatar
- The Quick and the Dead
- The Hurt Locker
- The Incredible Hulk
- Tony Jaa Onk Bak 2
- The Boondock Saints
- The Boondock Saints II
- Patton (Looking forward to this Blu-ray version)
- The Graduate
- In the Valley of Elah (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Play Misty For Me (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Play The Eiger Sanction (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Googan's Bluff (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood The Beguiled (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Escape from Alcatraz (DVD)
- Reservoir Dogs (DVD)
- Edward Scissorhands (DVD)

It is a good list to get through and more are on their way.
What do you think? Any favorites among them?

I liked Gandhi very much too but I think his masterpiece as an actor was his role in, "Sexy Beast." Candice Bergen is a very pretty woman but falls far short of the title, "Hot" ever. Boon Dock Saints, Reservoir Dogs, and Play Misty for Me are all classics in my mind. All kidding aside, I thought Reservoir Dogs is in the same league as Inglorious **** if you don't read too much into it.

kuntasensei

xcapri79 wrote: »

Yes, not in any order but my backlog list includes the following:
All Blu-ray unless designated (DVD)
- Gandhi (Just watched)
I enjoy these historical movies and Ben Kingsley was just phenominal in it.
It was his masterpiece as an actor. Candice Bergen looked hot.
- Avatar
- The Quick and the Dead
- The Hurt Locker
- The Incredible Hulk
- Tony Jaa Onk Bak 2
- The Boondock Saints
- The Boondock Saints II
- Patton (Looking forward to this Blu-ray version)
- The Graduate
- In the Valley of Elah (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Play Misty For Me (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Play The Eiger Sanction (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Googan's Bluff (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood The Beguiled (DVD)
- Clint Eastwood Escape from Alcatraz (DVD)
- Reservoir Dogs (DVD)
- Edward Scissorhands (DVD)

It is a good list to get through and more are on their way.
What do you think? Any favorites among them?

The Incredible Hulk is a total demo piece (and a hell of a good movie - as good as Iron Man IMHO). Ong Bak 2 on BD is amazing looking and has some great fight scenes.

Patton = great movie, not the greatest Blu-ray. They cleaned it up quite a bit, BUT... then they applied DNR. It still looks better than you've ever seen it, but I consider it a missed opportunity for an archival quality copy of the film.

hearingimpared

kuntasensei wrote: »

The Incredible Hulk is a total demo piece (and a hell of a good movie - as good as Iron Man IMHO). Ong Bak 2 on BD is amazing looking and has some great fight scenes.

Patton = great movie, not the greatest Blu-ray. They cleaned it up quite a bit, BUT... then they applied DNR. It still looks better than you've ever seen it, but I consider it a missed opportunity for an archival quality copy of the film.

Yeah, I forgot to add Patton to my list of classics. George C. Scott (RIP) was just amazing in that movie.

reeltrouble1

how about 12 Angry Men???? Now there is something one might get.

RT1

hearingimpared

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

how about 12 Angry Men???? Now there is something one might get.

RT1

That's another in my heavy rotation Ted. It never, ever gets old and the cast is stellar!

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

Awesomely adolescent, perhaps.:rolleyes:
The personal attacks from the usual clique do get tiresome though.
The Mods may have missed this latest one.

Indeed, Capri; I'm taking care of it.

What did you think of my input regarding your list?

I know for sure Escape From Alcatraz could use a new transfer and possibly a new sound mix; did you get around to watching it?

agfrost

xcapri79 wrote: »

Awesomely adolescent, perhaps.:rolleyes:
The personal attacks from the usual clique do get tiresome though.
The Mods may have missed this latest one.

Mike LoManaco wrote: »

Indeed, Capri; I'm taking care of it.

Ahh, for Pete's sake guys, does everything have to be drama with you two?

Anyone who's ever spent more than 5 minutes reading on internet forums has seen the posts that end up with two people ping-ponging posts back and forth to each other and some third person chimes in with "get a room, you two!" and all have a shared laugh.

So what's different here? As I see it, you just don't want to partake in the shared laugh--You want to be part of the board, but don't want to be "part of the board"... I don't claim to know everything about human nature but I think you'd find things smoothing out if you could find it in yourselves to say "Ha, Keiko, pretty good one." But that's just me, I prefer to smooth things out rather than try to whip them up into a froth...

Nothing on this page constitutes a personal attack, so why is that phrase being bandied about, yet again?? I've never, to my memory, replied to one of your posts before, so please take this as a humble suggestion from someone not "from the usual clique."

Jay

hearingimpared

Mike LoManaco wrote: »

I thought you decided to never enter one of these threads again...please don't feed the children with your "Gulp Gulp" commentary; it's beyond redundant and childish at this point.

On a side note, I actually thought Scott was awesome in Exorcist III and the HBO version of Tyson, where he played the late great Cus D'Amoto.

That right there is another of his great performances. He was very good in Exorcist III but the movie was bad but he made it fun to watch.

hearingimpared

Hey Mike Lo, how do you get those images to be displayed in this section of the forum? I can only get them to be displayed in the Clubhouse. The only thing I can get to work in this section are links.

kuntasensei

Hey, why'd my post about George C. Scott get deleted? It was relevant to xcapri's list!

Man... even when I'm not in the fight, I'm in the fight!

concealer404

hearingimpared wrote: »

Hey Mike Lo, how do you get those images to be displayed in this section of the forum? I can only get them to be displayed in the Clubhouse. The only thing I can get to work in this section are links.

Like this?

hearingimpared

concealer404 wrote: »

Like this?

Well that was a lot of help!:p:rolleyes: How did you get it there. I've used the insert image button at the top of the text box and it never shows the image, it shows the codes.

concealer404

Put the link to the image between the codes.

hearingimpared

concealer404 wrote: »

Put the link to the image between the codes.

Well I must be really loosing my mind as I have done that.:eek:

BTW it doesn't work with embedded youtube code either.

I would think that this forum being one for music and movies we'd be able to post up movie clips and music clips. Maybe that is just one for the Clubhouse but don't you think it would be great to have that ability here too?

concealer404

hearingimpared wrote: »

Well I must be really loosing my mind as I have done that.:eek:

BTW it doesn't work with embedded youtube code either.

I would think that this forum being one for music and movies we'd be able to post up movie clips and music clips. Maybe that is just one for the Clubhouse but don't you think it would be great to have that ability here too?

I think you may be losing your mind. That code is for hotlinking. You can even hotlink back to images you've attached in your post directly from your desktop.

Embedding on the other hand, only works in the clubhouse.

hearingimpared

Okay, thanks Bub!:)

concealer404

I just wanted to say that my picture is awesome.

And as cheesy as the movie referenced in the title of this thread. (Gotta tie it in somehow, see what i did there?)

kuntasensei

I liked Funny People, but it definitely wasn't as funny as it should've been and it went on too long. That said, there were moments of brilliance hidden in there... especially from the Indian guy.

Sadly, some of the advertising and viral ads they did were funnier than anything in the movie.