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Funny People starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann

Posted on November 15, 2009 Written by ripitup

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Funny People with Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana
Funny People with Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana

I was really looking forward to this movie. I had seen the trailer and I thought : “Cool! We are going to watch a half-funny, half- dramatic film!” Well the movie was a little dramatic and a little funny but that’s all. And that can’t really get you through 153 minutes (146, if it is not unrated). I am not saying it was all bad, but there were so many unnecessary scenes and so many useless lines- it just doesn’t work.

So George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a successful, highly popular and very rich comedic actor. He has come a long way from stand-up comics. He doesn’t have a problem picking women and all looks fine for him-until he goes to the doctor’s and finds out he is terminally ill. He examines his life. He realizes he has screwed up when he ruined things with the love of his life, Laura (Leslie Mann). Laura left George when he cheated on her and went on to marry an Australian called Clarke (Eric Bana) who apparently cheats on her too. But she has two kids with him…

George doesn’t have any real friends either. When he goes back to the stage for live comedy (probably for nostalgic reasons), he meets a clumsy,not-so-funny Ira and for some reason decides to have him work for him. Ira is ecstatic- he is writing jokes and assisting his favorite funny man.

Ira has two close friends: Leo (Jonah Hill) a comic a little funnier (supposedly) than him and Mark (Jason Schwartzman) who plays in a sitcom that Ira can’t really stand to watch.

So the movie concentrates on relationships and trusts the dialogs: Between George and Ira, Ira and his buddies, Ira and Laura and later on my favorite : when Clarke comes from a business trip to find George and Ira at home with his wife and kids.

There are things I like about the movie, I can’t say I despised it. Let me write down the likes first:

Likes:

+ Eric Bana: Don’t tell me it is because he looks good because he doesn’t , not here. But he is a good actor and his role & over-the-top Australian accent is funny. He is a real Aussie but that’s not how he actually speaks…And there were some good jokes that came from Ira about why they shouldn’t mess with him.

+ Seth Rogen: I normally don’t like him. I despised his character in Knocked-Up, he just wasn’t funny. But in this movie, he is the only character that is well…humane and at least slightly likable. With all his failures and good intentions, he was fun to watch. He has also some funny takes on who makes it successful in life. And Ira’s stand-up scenes at least one or two funny moments.

Dislikes:

– Leslie Mann’s Laura: She was fine and likable at first but later she just got…OK, so she can forgive a cheater ex (Adam Sandler) because he is dying. Fair enough. But then he gets better and she suddenly acts like he is the one that got away and her husband is an asshole..and..yeah the problem is Clarke isn’t actually that big an asshole, he is certainly not worse than George. So you sympathize with…no one, really! Ira is OK but then he really acts like a crybaby most of the time and you just want him to tell George to stick it.

-The Brat Pack: I don’t have anything against Brat Packs or crude comedy- as long as the combination works. I like the group of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson and well, I adore Old School. But if you are going to throw in lots of swearing and abrasive language, please make sure it is funny!

-The stand-up acts: The movie involves so many scenes with them. It just slows the movie down. Really slows it down, because they are just not funny 99% of the time.

– Duration : You really shouldn’t have a story pretending to be profound for 153 minutes, when you could have a much more effective and much funnier story told in 90 minutes! I thought it was ironic. In one scene Laura tells George to cut the swearing and he jokes that then he wouldn’t have a third act. I wish Leslie Mann had told the same thing to real life husband Judd Apatow. Yes, brat pack and family members….Ouch!

In wish I had known the movie was Judd Apatow’s and his brat pack’s.His movie making is just my style. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy 40-year-old virgin, the movie had a lot of funny moments. But I was really bored during Knocked Up. It wasn’t funny, I didn’t like any of the characters and if a comedy doesn’t make you laugh, you feel bad. I have nothing against Sandler- I actually really like some of his movies, like The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, The Longest Yard and Anger Management. But the elements in the movies just don’t work. Indiviudally, Bana,Sandler and Rogen are good. The idea of the story is fine. Cameos are fun. But..that’s pretty much it. And it certainly didn’t help that I watched this movie on the same day I watched Hangover. The Hangover is my next post- it is directed by the Old School director Todd Philips. And it is a perfect example of how you can be crass and funny without being boring and irrelevant.

Other Movies feat. Jonah Hill

The Invention of Lying

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Adam Sandler, Brat Pack, comedy, drama, Eric Bana, Funny People, Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill, Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, movies, Seth Rogen

17 Again starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg and Leslie Mann

Posted on July 5, 2009 Written by ripitup

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17 Again starring Matthew Perry and Zac Efron
17 Again starring Matthew Perry and Zac Efron

Starring: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight, Thomas Lennon

So most of us saw similar movies before. Of course we have. It is 2009!!! Some people like it and some think writers should go after new ideas. But the thing is, for the people who do like these kind of stories- “Big”, “13 going on 30”, hell even “back to the future” in some aspects,and so on- this movie definitely delivers.It is funny with great situational and physical comedy;complete with one-liners.

About the plot: Mike O’ Donnell ( Matthew Perry) is in his late 30s and an utter failure at all aspects of his life. His wife is divorcing him, his kids despise him, has a crappy job that he manages to get fired from…And this is all his doing. He used to be ( played by Zac Efron) a promising basketball star in his highschool. He is goegeous,popular,successful and is dating the girl of his dreams. But he receives some shocking news at the beginning of the most important game of his life and after that his life goes downhill…At least he thinks so and his -Scarlett (Leslie Mann)- having been fed up with his complaining all through the years, can’t take it anymore. So he meets a stranger, makes a wish and bizarrely enough, he finds himself at the age of 17 again. Except this time, he is not 17 in 1989. He finds himself going to the same school with his daughter and son. He realizes he barely knew what went on his kids’ lives and to make matter worse,his daughter (Trachtenberg) is constantly making out with the school’s bully who is making his son’s life hell…His best friend Ned-played by Lennon- is hilarious as the rich,sci-fi junkie who now has to pretend as Mike’s dad.

You don’t have to like Zac Efron to like this movie. I personally have a kind of love&hate relationship with him. Before Hairspray, I hadn’t seen him in any of his high school musical movies. I had seen his pictures/movie trailers however; and I thought he was just another teen actor/pop star who was there to attract young girls and make them dream. He was baby-faced and well too blond. Then, I watched Hairspray and frankly didn’t realize Zac was in it.I had to double-check the credits. He was great as the promising, jet-black haired, handsome star of a musical TV show. He used a great,thick singing voice to sing 50s/60s rock’n’roll songs and sounded so unlike himself. As an avid rock’n’roll fan, I loved his role and how he carried out.He didn’t look bad next to great talents like John Travolta, Christopher Walken and James Marsden. So just when I decided he had more then the high school musical going on for him, he seized to surprise me. Until 17 Again, that is. Yes, he plays a high schooler. At 22 and baby-faced, he looks perfectly 17. He is less blond, thank goodness and he is pretty good as a comedic actor. He actually didn’t disappoint me as the younger version of Matthew Perry. Some people are hung up on the idea of Zac can not be the younger version of Perry, lookswise. But then again, I claim that he should be flattered since Perry is an amazing comedian. Having played my favourite “Friend” Chandler, he is one of my fav. comedians of all times. Is Efron just as talented and funny? Not yet. Are both actors good casting choices? Absolutely. And if Zac can get more diverse roles, he might just pleasantly charm and surprise us.

For more posts on the cast:

Matthew Perry- Numb , Hollywood Stars in Friends, Including Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and More

Zac Efron- Hairspray

Leslie Mann- Funny People

Buy 17 Again on Amazon

Zac Efron as Mike in his second-time-around 17 era
Zac as Mike in his second-time-around 17 era
Zac Efron and Michelle Trachtenberg 17 Again
Zac Efron with co-star Michelle Trachtenberg

Zac Efron and Leslie Mann in 17 Again
Zac Efron and Leslie Mann in 17 Again

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: 17 Again, comedy, Leslie Mann, Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg, romance, Sterling Knight, Thomas Lennon, Zac Efron

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