Funny People is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann. Although the film is a drama, it blends in elements of comedy. The film was released on 31 July 2009 in North America, and on 28 August 2009 in the United Kingdom. Funny People uses considerably more dramatic elements than seen in Apatow's previous films. The film was co-produced by Apatow Productions and Mr. Madison 23 Productions, a subsidiary of Sandler's company Happy Madison. Universal and Columbia Pictures co-financed the film and it also served as a worldwide distributor.^[2] Reviews of the film were mixed.

Plot[link]

George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a very successful 40-something comedian and actor. However, he is self-absorbed, lonely and estranged from his family. When diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, George is offered an experimental treatment that has an eight-percent chance of therapeutic response. Believing he is about to die, he decides to return to his roots and do stand-up comedy. Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) is an aspiring stand-up comedian who lives in an apartment with his two best friends, Mark Taylor Jackson and Leo Koenig (Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill). Mark stars in a sitcom, Yo Teach, where he plays a teacher for a group of misfit students. Despite the obvious failings of the show, Mark constantly brags about his high income. When fellow stand-up comedienne Daisy (Aubrey Plaza) visits the apartment, Mark magnanimously tells Ira that he will hold off having sex with her for ten days in order for Ira to make a play for her. At a comedy club, George takes the stage to deliver a dark routine, which Ira mocks in his follow-on act. George calls Ira the next morning and asks him to write jokes for George's upcoming gig at a MySpace corporate event.

George hires Ira as his assistant. When George tells him about his condition, Ira cares for him through the treatment. Ira implores George to tell people about his disease. George previously had called his ex-fiancée, Laura (Leslie Mann), to apologize for his infidelities when they were together, but does not tell her why he is having a change of heart. Meanwhile, Ira awkwardly asks Daisy out, but later discovers that she and Mark have slept together, and angrily cuts off all ties with her. Laura learns about George's illness, visits him at his house, and confesses that her husband, Clarke, cheats on her as well. They reconcile and tentatively become friends. George′s physician tells him that the leukemia is in remission. George is happy but is unsure what to do with his life now. He decides he wants a long-term relationship and calls Laura, but does not tell her the news. George and Ira go to a gig in San Francisco; Laura meets them there. George makes Ira tell Laura during intermission that he is free of disease. George later explains that he did not want to "jinx it".

Laura invites George and Ira to her house in Marin County. George and Ira spend time with Laura and her two young daughters. George and Laura sneak into the guest house together to have sex; meanwhile, Ira tells both daughters that George is healthy. When Clarke (Eric Bana) unexpectedly arrives, Laura asks George to maintain the façade of being terminally ill. In the morning, Clarke bids George a tearful goodbye — which is cut short when his daughters reveal that George is actually healthy now. Clarke confronts Laura and accuses her of cheating. In response, Laura confronts him with his infidelity, and he drives off in a huff. Laura tells George that she plans to leave Clarke; George is overjoyed, but Ira tells him their affair will destroy a family. Angered, George threatens to fire him. The next day, George, Ira, and Laura watch the video of Laura′s oldest daughter, Mabel, performing the song "Memory" from the musical Cats; Ira and Laura find the performance moving, but George appears bored. Laura leaves for the airport to tell Clarke she is leaving him; Ira lies to George and follows her. At the airport, Clarke confesses his infidelity to Laura, and pleads with her to give their marriage another try. Laura agrees and says her affair with George was a mere "flirtation". They discover Ira following them, and goad him into admitting that he is trying to stop George and Laura from running off together.

An enraged Clarke chases George out of his house and beats him up. George demands Laura choose between him and Clarke; she chooses her husband, and bids George a tearful goodbye. Heading back to Los Angeles, George berates Ira for his betrayal and fires him. Ira upbraids George for not learning anything from his near-death experience, and tells him that he will never be able to escape his own personal failings because of his selfish nature. Ira returns to his old job at the deli department while he starts to date Daisy. George attends Ira′s stand-up act and sees that his old assistant has become a far more confident performer. The next day, George finds Ira at work and admits that even though he is no longer sick, his attitude needs improvement. The film ends with George and Ira telling each other jokes as they laugh together and repair their friendship.

Cast[link]

Leslie Mann, Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow in Berlin (2009)

• Adam Sandler as George Simmons
• Seth Rogen as Ira Wright
• Leslie Mann as Laura
• Jonah Hill as Leo Koenig
• Aubrey Plaza as Daisy Danby
• Jason Schwartzman as Mark Taylor Jackson
• Eric Bana as Clarke
• RZA as Chuck
• Maude Apatow as Mable
• Iris Apatow as Ingrid
• Aziz Ansari as Randy Springs
• Torsten Voges as Dr. Lars
• Allan Wasserman as Dr. Stevens
• Steve Bannos as Deli Manager

Dave Attell, Sarah Silverman, Norm Macdonald, Paul Reiser, Tom Anderson, Charles Fleischer, George Wallace, and Andy Dick made cameo appearances as themselves in the roles of George's fellow comedians.^[3] Rapper Eminem,^[4] comedian Ray Romano, musician James Taylor,^[5] MADtv member Nicole Parker,^[6] and newcomer Bo Burnham^[7] also appeared in small roles. Undeclared alum Carla Gallo had a cameo in the film as a character on Yo Teach!, the television show within the film that Mark stars in,^[8] while Justin Long and Apatow regular Ken Jeong have cameos in the film as characters in movies for which George is famous.^[9] Owen Wilson and Elizabeth Banks are featured on posters for fake movies in which George starred.^[10] Bryan Batt makes an appearance as George's agent. Musicians Jon Brion, Sebastian Steinberg, and James Gadson appear in the film as members of George's jam band. Comedians Rod Man, Budd Friedman, Monty Hoffman, Mark Schiff, Orny Adams, Al Lubel, and Jerry Minor appear as themselves. Comedienne/producer/writer Carol Leifer appears as herself.

Production[link]

Judd Apatow had expressed his desire to make a stand-up comedian mentor film loosely based on his own early experiences as a struggling performer. He could not come up with an interesting idea, however, since most of his mentors were kind to him. He then thought of making a film about a mentor facing a life crisis, and decided to have his former roommate Adam Sandler play that role. They discussed making the film almost two years prior to production.^[11]

Apatow had cast Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann as the three leads in March 2008.^[12] Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, and Jason Schwartzman were cast in June 2008 when the title of the film was announced. When asked about the decision to cast Bana, Apatow said that both he and Rogen are fans of his films; Rogen additionally commented they cast him as the husband because he was someone who would be considered an intimidating presence to both Sandler and Rogen.^[13] Bana mentioned that he decided to play the character with his native Australian accent so he would be more comfortable improvising.^[14] Apatow and Mann's daughters, Maude and Iris Apatow, play the young girls in the film. Both Apatow and Mann state that this casting choice allowed for more natural dialogue for the children, but the girls have not been allowed to actually see the film^[15]

Academy Award-winning cinematographer Janusz Kamiński handled the cinematography for the film. Apatow had Sandler, Rogen, and Hill write their own material for routines. Apatow filmed them performing their routines in front of live audiences, using six cameras to capture their performances and audience reactions. Apatow filmed their entire performances, although only five to ten minutes of stand-up footage appear in the film. Hill admitted his performance was not well-received because he has never done stand-up. Additionally, Apatow filmed scenes from Sandler's character's fictional filmography, as well as scenes from Schwartzman's character's fictional television show Yo Teach!, for the film to add realism.^[16]

Apatow used an old video of Sandler, from when the two were roommates, in which Sandler makes prank phone calls, and features a young Ben Stiller.

Marketing[link]

The first teaser poster for the film was released November 13, 2008. On the day the teaser poster was released, Universal Pictures and MySpace partnered together to create a contest that would allow people to have a part in the film by just writing a comment explaining why. Additionally, Apatow held a stand-up comedy concert event called "A Night of Funny People" at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles to film a scene for the movie. The event was open to the general public and featured acts by Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, David Spade, and Patton Oswalt, with Sandler, Rogen, and Ansari performing as their characters in the film. The first theatrical trailer for the film was released February 20, 2009 on the Internet, with a shortened version first appearing in theaters with I Love You, Man.