Funny People

Famous comedian George Simmons is dying so he hires Ira Wright to be his friend and drive him around and talk him to sleep. Before George hires him, Ira was working at a deli counter with the RZA. I guess if Method Man ever wants to go through the whole torture routine from that Wu-Tang album where he keeps feedin you and feedin you, and feedin you, and feedin you, he’ll have the hook up on some deli meats at a bulk rate.

The first half of Funny People is about what it’s like to be a comedian and do stand up comedy so it’s like comedy porn for comedians. Oh, I liked your set, nice bit, will you write jokes for me, that’s a solid five minutes, you’re opening for me, I can’t follow that, you’re up next, here’s a thousand bucks. I tried stand up comedy once in Savannah, Ga. I wrote one joke about the Piggly Wiggly pig and assumed I’d just improvise the rest. I got up on stage in front of a bunch of drunk people and asked, “Have…uh…any of you…seen the Piggly Wiggly pig?” Some people clapped and said, “Yeah!” That was when I realized I couldn’t even remember what the pig looked like, much less any jokes about him. “That is one crazy pig.” I remarked. Then silence. I should have dropped the mic and walked off stage. World’s greatest performance artist. One man show. HAVE YOU SEEN THE PIG? A daring statement from a brave artist.

“I was moved to tears.” —Wilbur the Pig
“Riveting! I banged my hoofs together in an approximation of human applause!” —Babe the Pig
“If I wasn’t a piece of bacon, I’d still be a pig and I’d be buying tickets to this amazing show!” —A Piece of Bacon

Somebody yelled, “get off the stage!” So I did.

The other half of this movie is about Ira and George becoming close friends and George trying to hook up with his ex-girlfriend Laura. Her husband is cheating on her so she sleeps with George but then the husband comes home and everyone has to act like they were just visiting. There’s a whole hour where it’s just George rekindling his romance with Laura and Ira entertaining her kids in the meantime. It’s pretty charming watching these comedians goof around with some kids and wreck the foundations of a shaky marriage with some adultery, but the first half of the movie had such a different tone it was like oh I guess we’re hanging out in this lady’s house now.

There’s a side story with Ira and his two comedian roommates. His roommate Mark is played by handsome actor Jason Schwartzman. Ira is trying to date a girl comedian named Daisy but Mark sleeps with her first because he’s got a pretty face and is on a hit show. They should make a Lost in Translation 2 where Jason Schwartzman goes to Japan and falls in friendship love with a much older woman. At the end of the movie she could pull him close and whisper, “Young man, I’m out of Activia. Be a dear and run to the store.”

Spoiler Alert

Ira and Daisy hang out on a jeep and listen to Wilco so now they’re dating. I liked that one Wilco album that everyone liked but everything after that is just a bunch of soft singing about ghosts and feelings. This whole movie is about feelings.

Funny People is a great movie even though it is so long. It’s like the Lord of the Rings movies if Gandalf was a lonely comedian and Frodo was a struggling Jewish comedian and Gollum was Jonah Hill and that elf princess was Aubrey Plaza and nobody went to Mordor they went to a Myspace corporate event which I bet is pretty similar with all the lava and black rocks and fire and sadness now that Facebook is so popular.

Tagged Funny People, Judd Apatow, movie