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Matt - When I walked out of “Funny People,” I pretty much felt just plain good.  It was an incredibly warm movie with a dose of raw humor; almost the complete opposite of what Apatow typically does. I have found that most of his movies usually adapt an overly humorous theme – like not having sex until your 40 or being ugly and knocking up a girl much better looking than you – into a morally meaningful story.  Well now, Apatow built the movie in reverse by taking a serious and deeply personal issue and making it humorous.

The movie was smart, funny, sincere and able tell a feel good story about how staring death in the face affects people in your life both past and present. It makes you look back at yourself and assess whether the person you are, is the person you want to be.  This movie also had a lot of really great cameos including a hilarious dinner between Sandler’s character and Eminem. Eminem pretty much played himself to a “T.”  I also really liked Rogen in this movie as well. After he did “Observe and Report,” I basically got sick of him. However, this movie puts him back in the goofy supporting role where he thrives.  Rogen did a great job in this movie.  The ensemble of this movie looked like they genuinely had fun making this movie. The visible chemistry really came through.

I spoke about the movie in our July lineup post and was mistaken in my premature opinion not to see this movie.  I based it solely off the trailer.  This movie is definitely worth seeing.

Craig: This was top 3 movies of the summer.  BUT…you have to know what to expect when going into this.  It is a more emotional serious draw than previous Apatow efforts and is not the comedy that the Hangover is.  This deals with human emotions of both kinds and on different planes.  Deals with topics of friendship, love, life and death.  The comedy seems were hysterical and a perfect compliment to add humor to the more serious issue; the comedy was more of an underlying topic to break the tension of the real story.  A little bit long at 2 hours and 15 minutes but the diverse characters and issues keeps the pace going.  It was ironic in a lot of ways to see the characters in the movie change and have a different perspective on life and their ways accept for Sandler’s character who was dealing with the biggest “punch line” of his life.  Excellent movie, that will have you up and down with the emotions and comedy, a summer pleasure.

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This Friday, “Funny People” premieres and rounds out the month of July.  We at TheMovieBanter.com want to welcome Hollywood Insider, Ron Ashley, with his first guest review.  Ron had the privilege of attending the Los Angeles premiere of the film last week and wanted to share his thoughts.  We hope you enjoy his insightful writing as much as we did.

Also, we hope this becomes some sort of routine where Ron will have share his thoughts on movies that have yet to hit theaters and/or on events that he deems worthy to provide some insight on.  Ron, we appreciate your efforts and time spent on putting this together.

Ron’s review of “Funny People”

“Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler’s latest film FUNNY PEOPLE, while great in it’s own right, is very different from any of their previous films.  Described as Apatow’s “passion project”, the film is more dramatic than his earlier work, but it maintains the charm and wit normally associated with Apatow.  The film stars Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman, and Jonah Hill.  There were some pretty fantastic cameos, including Norm MacDonald, Eminem, Sarah Silverman, and Andy Dick.  Aziz Ansari (of HUMAN GIANT) and RZA (formerly of the Wutang Clan) also make appearances.

Coons! Night of the Bandits of the Night dvd The film follows self-loathing star comedian George Simmons (Sandler), who finds out that he has a fatal form of leukemia, and decides to take a break from starring in financially-motivated, cheesy blockbusters in order to devote himself to stand-up comedy again.  He hires young, unknown comedian Ira Wright (Rogen) to write jokes for him and be his personal assistant.  His physical condition forces him to reflect on the bad decisions he has made and the bridges he has burned throughout his life as a selfish jerk, and he tries to begin to make amends with these wronged people, including the only woman he ever really loved, Laura (Mann).

While the film is laugh-out-loud funny at times, it deals with some heavy issues, like death, self-hatred, and infidelity… and it deals with them very effectively.  It didn’t feel preachy or holier-than-thou at all, but it definitely got me thinking about my own life and values.  You don’t just walk out of the theater giggling about all the noises that Adam Sandler made.  This is a thoughtful, thoroughly entertaining film.

This film was well-cast, and certain performances were outstanding.  Eric Bana surprised me… he was sincere and totally hilarious.  I felt he stole the show here.  Jonah Hill was far more relaxed and natural than usual.  It didn’t feel like he was trying too hard, which was a vast improvement from his previous work.  Per usual, Sandler, Rogen, and Schwartzman delivered.  Leslie Mann was fantastic as well.

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In a way, it’s like 2 movies combined… the comedic and dramatic elements create this feel, which might make the film difficult to sell to a prospective audience.  However, there is definite quality here.  Go see this in the theater!  More films like this need to get made“

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The Long Hot Summer hd Feel free to post a comment on your thoughts of the review or to send a quick message to Ron. He will check up on comments directed at him and try to respond as promptly as possible.

Ron, thanks again.

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For a trailer of the movie, click the link of “Funny People” in the Banter Radar section.

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