Judd Apatow’s return isn’t a must-see, but it’s a very enjoyable and sometimes very funny film with a few jokes that will stay with you.

Tags: adam sandler, Funny People, funny people movie, Judd Apatow

“Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” George Bernard’s famous quote is turned upside down by Judd Apatow in his return to the director’s chair. After the success of “Knocked Up,” Apatow took some time off to produce a gaggle of films for friends and proteges. Some worked (”Saving Sarah Marshall,” “Super Bad”), and others were “Drillbit Taylor.”

For a man who has had such an influence on the style of the current comedy landscape, Apatow has directed surprisingly few films (just three). And although all are worth watching, there has been a slight dip in quality with each release.

His latest takes on a life event and its unforseen consequences (much like “Knocked Up”). In “Knocked Up,” Apatow chose an event (unintended pregnancy), that though scary, was also shown in a mostly positive light. The situation, while not always funny for the characters themselves, was easily made fun of.

This time, Apatow chooses to merge his comedy with a character facing a debilitating disease and death. Doesn’t quite have that same comic zing, does it?

Celebrity funnyman George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a very rich, and very lonely, man. The discovery of a rare blood disease sends the comedian in search of meaning and an attempt to relive the best moments of his life. As most of these occurred on stage in smoky comedy clubs before garnering his fame, this is where he chooses to return. A chance encounter with struggling comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) who befriends his idol, leads to a job for Ira writing jokes and working as George’s assistant.

At times, “Funny People” is reminiscent of “The Bucket List,” and there are times when it takes the harsh reality of Geroge’s condition seriously (though never for long when a good dick joke can be used to break up the tension). The project also gives us eerily familiar scenes of the oeuvre including the necessary crass buddy scenes discussing sex and joking around with mutual put-downs. Had Paul Rudd and Jason Segel’s characters from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” respectively suddenly appeared, they would not be out of place. This time the bro-crew is staffed by Jonah Hill, as Ira’s slightly more successful roommate, and Jason Schwartzman, as Ira’s other more successful roommate, complete with a starring role on his own sitcom.

Apatow knows his funny, and how to deliver jokes both cheap and clever. The title of the film is indeed apt. This is a group of funny, funny people. Where the film gets into trouble is when it tries to merge the darker, and more grown-up dramatic elements of the story with the random bits and jokes. The film includes several jokes at Hollywood’s expense, including several mentions of George’s big movie hits (such as “Merman”), and the popular and intensely unfunny television show Schwarzman’s character stars in, appropriately titled “Yo Teach…!”

Speaking of roommates, the project reunites Apatow with his real-life former roommate, Adam Sandler. This turns out to be a mixed blessing. In many ways, Apatow is able to tailor a role specifically to the strengths of his longtime friend, and this allows the director to work footage of Sandler that was taken two decades ago into the film. At the same time, the movie becomes locked onto George and too often steers itself away from Seth Rogen’s Ira - the only likable character in the film (and, perhaps not coincidentially, the character loosely based off the writer himself in this semi-autobiographical piece).

The relationship between George and Ira is the meat of the movie, but sadly Apatow isn’t comfortable enough focusing only on this dynamic and has to throw a former flame (played by Leslie Mann) into the mix. This wouldn’t be so bad, but the film is hijacked for about 30 minutes and becomes a romantic comedy. Only in the film’s final moments is the true relationship returned to. I understand Apatow’s problem. Once Mann’s character is introduced and George’s feelings resurface, the only two options are to lightly touch on it and move on or spend an inordinate of time dealing with the consequences of the renewed relationship. I’ll give the writer/director credit for not shirking the dramatic consequences of the renewed relationship, but the film bogs down much too much during this stretch.

Although much of the humor works, some of it has that uncomfortable “Family Guy” feel where the writing doesn’t know when to stop and trust the joke, and instead kicks a very bloody dead horse. Whether its in the the stand-up routine or the doctor with the “Die Hard” accent, there are moments when Apatow allows Sandler to go on for far too long.

“Funny People” isn’t a great film, nor is it a must-see, but it is a very enjoyable and sometimes very funny film with a few jokes that will stay with you. It’s also an important step forward for Apatow growing as both a director and writer in his attempt to tell more serious tales. It’s certainly a flawed film, and at least 30 minutes too long, but Apatow fans will get what they’ve paid to see and should leave with a smile.

Tags: adam sandler, Funny People, funny people movie, Judd Apatow

Columbia Pictures third-highest grossing film of all time is “Ghostbusters.” So they’d be stupid not to make a sequel, right? Hmmm…Well, the writing has begun, and “the plan is for the film to reunite the stars of the original ‘Ghostbusters’ films, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson,” according to Variety.

The catch? The two writers they hired are Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, from NBC’s “The Office” and it may star Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, or some of the other Judd Apatow players. Pop Machine got an email response from original Ghostbuster and “Groundhog Day” director Harold Ramis about the film:

“the studio is hoping to tap into some of the [judd apatow] acting talent. aykroyd, ivan reitman and i are consulting at this point, and according to dan, bill murray is willing to be involved on some level. he did record his dialogue for the new ghostbusters video game, as did danny and i, and ernie hudson. the concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity.”

And a Dan Aykroyd interview from E!Online:

“Well, y’know, two sharp young writers are purported to be writing the sequel, the third movie now. If I could interest Seth [Rogen] and Judd [Apatow] to be part of it, that would be an absolute dream.”

Tags: , a serious man, bill murray, coen brothers, ghostbusters 3, ghostbusters iii, harold ramis, Judd Apatow

Eric and J.D. discuss why Jason Segel is the new Seth Rogen (”Superbad”) and what makes “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” better than most romantic comedies of its ilk. It may have something to do with producer Judd Apatow (”Knocked Up, “The 40 Year-old Virgin”), but they’re pretty sure it has more to do with an unflinching sense of honesty, lots of male nudity, and a keen eye on satirizing Hollywood types. Plus, UK comedian Russell Brand is hilarious.

Tags: Eric and J.D., Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segel, Judd Apatow, male nudity, movie review, on-camera review, Russell Brand, Seth Rogen, superbad

Eric and J.D. review the Judd Apatow-produced, Seth Rogen/John Hughes-written comedy “Drillbit Taylor,” starring Owen Wilson and three kids who stepped out of a “Superbad” time machine three years earlier. Find out why movie studios release movies like this one, directed by Steven Brill (“Without a Paddle,” “Mr. Deeds”), in March. Eric’s print review is here.

Tags: drillbit taylor, film, Judd Apatow, leslie mann, movie review, on-camera, owen wilson, Seth Rogen, video

It’s common knowledge that Judd Apatow and his merry band of improv comedians have helped to make movies like “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” way better than your average batch of raunchy comedies while simultaneously seeming more authentic. When Seth Rogen and his friends get in a room together to do improvise the hell out of a well-scripted scene, the funny gets funnier and it all feels more real.

“Drillbit Taylor,” which was produced by Apatow and co-written by Rogen, makes you realize how good the scripts to those movies had to have been because no amount of improvisation could have saved a screenplay as lame as this one from itself. Even with heavyweights like ultra-sincere jokester Owen Wilson, Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife, who was so bitingly terrific in “Knocked Up”), and Stephen Root (Milton from “Office Space” and Jimmy James from the overlooked sitcom “NewsRadio”), the movie falls flat left and right.

Apparently, the story was conceived by ‘80s teen movie guru and current recluse John Hughes (under the pen name Edmond Dantes—a strange reference to “The Count of Monte Cristo”), and then penned by Rogen and Kristfor Brown. It’s been almost 18 years since a picked-on teen hired a bodyguard to protect him from the high school bully, so most people have probably forgotten “My Bodyguard.” (The filmmakers didn’t: that movie’s bodyguard, Adam Baldwin—better known now as Jayne from “Firefly/Serenity”—cameos as an unsuccessful applicant for the job.)

“Drillbit Taylor” expands on that premise by making the bodyguard a homeless Army defector and expanding one nerd to three. Why Rogen decided to model these three nerds so closely after his “Superbad” characters is beyond me. Like Seth, Evan, and McLovin, the three young losers of “Drillbit” have inflated, defensive egos that go hand-in-hand with their lack of self-confidence; and they even bicker amongst themselves about who of them is the geekiest, as if one nerd is nerdier, and hence slightly less cool, than the other.

But what was fresh, articulate, and downright shocking sometimes in “Superbad” is now PG-13, and just plain neutered.

Directed by Steven Brill (“Without a Paddle,” “Mr. Deeds”), this film is one almost-funny situation after another that is completely undercut by lazy timing and editing. Wilson isn’t awful as the title character—he’s just coasting. The Jonah Hill kid (Troy Gentile) is hard to understand sometimes and curiously keeps slipping in and out of a Brooklyn accent. Drillbit’s buddies look like actors wearing “homeless clothes” and their scenes together have no chemistry whatsoever. Brill doesn’t seem to know when to end a scene, letting the fizzled joke grow stale right before our eyes.

It’s hard to get excited about writing about a movie that’s so averagely unfunny most of the time. “Drillbit Taylor” is not offensively bad; it’s just offensively bland, especially for Rogen, who has been on a roll lately.

If I may quote “Mr. Show with Bob and David”—the best sketch comedy show since “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”—“Drillbit Taylor” was just good enough to bring us to “the edge of laughter.”

Tags: drillbit taylor, John Hughes, Judd Apatow, leslie mann, movie review, Seth Rogen, superbad