Life is fragile. An unexpected turn of events can lead to devastating consequences, while repercussions from past experiences can return to gnaw at hapless heels. Developing a sickness is no laughing matter, nor is being forced to cope with a terminal illness. Too many lives have been taken far too swiftly at the hand of unpredicted complications for life to seem trivial. The best must be made from it, every moment and every second. The birthing minutes of Funny People, Judd Apatow‘s follow-up to 2007′s successful Knocked Up, show real footage of a young Adam Sandler. He is full of life, full of laughs, and not without a toothy grin pasted onto his face. Forward several years to present time, and his look is substantially grimmer. What was once hopefulness and ambition to succeed becomes apathy and self-loathing in the midst of instant recognition and star status. Sandler plays George Simmons, and he has a short time to live. Meanwhile, Seth Rogen plays Ira, a struggling standup comic who shares a room alongside Rushmore and I Heart Huckabees favourite Jason Schwartzman and Apatow regular Jona Hill. Ira catches his big break when Simmons asks him to become his chief writer/assistant/lapdog.

To delve any further into the plot would detract from the main piece because the movie is quite literally an epic. At two hours and twenty minutes, writer/producer/director Apatow maneuvers past his lighthearted, bro-mantic past into heart-wrenchingly painful but undeniably funny territory. Laughs come in bursts and light flourishes over a tragic backdrop; Sandler’s character is not only the antithesis of the typical heartwarming oaf who comes to terms with himself, but rather a mean-spirited celebrity who ruins his multitude of chances.

The supporting cast is given ample opportunity to reveal their comedic chops, but it’s Sandler and his attempts at remodeling friendship and severed human relationships that drive the film. His stint with rekindled flame Laura (Apatow’s wife and frequent collaborator Leslie Mann) is a particular example of the uselessness which he reaps and sows. His selfishness, ego stroking and utter lack of empathy works to drive away the only things he ever desired. As a specific slap in the face, it’s her distraught husband who walks away with the answers. Though this story ark has caused rifts in the cinematic community, as critics call foul on the extended subplot between ex-girlfriend and her splintering matrimonial bonds, it is absolutely necessary in driving the message home: Simmons can never change. To argue that too much time was taken to construct a complicated, quasi-malevolant character in Adam Sandler would be the same to call foul on Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. It’s understandable that a difference is apparent in each film’s generic qualities (it’s hard to crack a smile during Paul Thomas Anderson‘s American epic), but both strive to show characters who just might not reform.

A review of Funny People mentioned that the film is “Terms of Endearment with dick jokes.” There are plenty of dick jokes in this film, but if that’s all the audience walks out with, the current generation of moviegoers are shamefully undereducated. While the movie has its fair share of pacing issues and is still rather stagnant in direction, Funny People punches stomachs and tugs at heartstrings at one and the same time. It is also important to mention that Sandler hasn’t had a role this convincing since Punch-Drunk Love (also by Paul Thomas Anderson).

(8.2/10)