Posts Tagged Judd Aptow

When you think of who could be behind a movie that, when stripped bare of its comedy is really about dying, do you think of Judd Apatow or Adam Sandler? We don’t.

And that’s one facet that’s really refreshing about Funny People which is released in cinemas this week. When you walk into the theatre to see an Adam Sandler film, you don’t really expect to see anything else but comedy but Funny People is different.

The film can be divided into two sections. In the first, we are introduced to George Simmons (Sandler), a comedian who’s made it rich by starring in mindless films but who is ultimately, alone. We discover he’s lost the love of his life, Laura (Leslie Mann) who, after George cheats on her, moves on with her life with another man. When George discovers he’s dying from leukemia, he predictably, has an epiphany and seeks to tie up loose ends and find someone to share the last phase of his life with.

But when George finds out that his disease is in remission, the film shifts gear as it seeks to uncover more about his relationship with Laura as he attempts to rekindle what he has always believed was lost.

Regardless of whether you like Funny People or not, one thing is certain: it will play with your emotions. We laughed and cried but were also inspired to take a look at a few of Sandler’s past efforts. After all, there have been many.

Apatow and Sandler are like cake and ice-cream. Two things that are very good separately but when put together, are magic!

The first thing that struck us about Funny People was that the combination of Apatow and Sandler is a stroke of genius. And while Apatow is a relative newcomer (although he has had recent success with The 40- Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Talladega Nights and Superbad), Sandler’s body of work is quite extensive.

Put simply, there’s nothing more we like here than to delve into our movie files. So, what do you think of when you think of Adam Sandler? There’s one image that keeps on popping up in our minds (see below).

Do we really have to say anything?

Even a decade after its release, Big Daddy still makes us laugh. It looks at what can happen when someone who should never have to look after a child, is forced to. Does anyone else find the notion of Adam Sandler having children quite scary? We do, especially when we think back to Billy Madison. We’re not entirely convinced it’s all ‘acting’.

Now that we had decided to look over our Adam Sandler movie reel, how could we go past The Wedding Singer? The combination of Sandler and Drew Barrymore works well but we think the hair stylist deserves to be commended for maintaining that mop top on Sandler’s head for the entire movie.

Is it real?

More recently, Spanglish marked a nice departure from the straight-out ‘mindless’ comedy to a more meaningful story. Importantly, it showed a softer side to Sandler (we can’t go past how Sandler’s character sticks up for his daughter after his wife buys her clothes that are too small for her so that she will be encouraged to lose weight). For the first time, this film exposed a bit of light and shade in Sandler’s work.

Have you ever thought of what would happen if you put Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson in a movie together? Well, Anger Management is the result and what a funny little trip it is. These two larger-than-life personalities certainly make for a funny film that will cure your Sunday-night blues.

This may be a little too close for comfort.

The bottom line is that we could drone on about entertaining Sandler movies for a long time (longer than you think we can), but watching them is a lot more entertaining than just reading about them.