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Funny People 2-Disc Collectors Edition DVD Review

By Prairie Miller

Not exactly a movie about dying of laughter but close to it, Judd Apatow's pot luck mock morbid meditation on mortality, punchlines and male anatomy, is strangely as much about the cutting off of life as castration anxiety issues. But writer/director Apatow's playful hide and seek scenario may finally be more about how the joke is on us.

Adam Sandler mopes and shuffles his way through most of Funny People as George Simmons, a celebrity comedian who's hit with the news that he has terminal cancer. And while spiraling downward into a state of deepening despair, George re-examines what really matters most in his life, while all the fame and adulation sinks way down to the bottom of that particular checklist.

George also reaches out to Laura (Leslie Mann), the love of his life who parted ways with the incurable womanizer some time ago, and he shamelessly exploits terminal disease as emotional leverage. Even though she's now married with children to cocky corporate suit Clarke (Eric Bana), but may still have an unresolved thing for her sulking ex-boyfriend.

Meanwhile, George has been losing his comic flair on stage, as his jokes take a self-pitying, darker turn in a faceoff with his bewildered fans in the audience, for whom this is no laughing matter. So he hires an elated Ira (Seth Rogen) to ghostwrite more upbeat material, a standup hopeful still doing deli duty who'd rather be on stage even if by proxy, than serving up macaroni salad. But when not concocting performance chuckle incentives for his moody idol, Rogen spends much of the movie explaining his fat to fit makeover, actually a slimdown regimen for another movie, The Green Hornet.

Funny People: Odd existential grossout in odd couple collision with dysfunctional family values, tiresome male organ transplant yucks, and a few zany infatuations of the fanboy and buddy bonding kind.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Rated R
2 1/2 stars

DVD Single Disc Features: Gag Reel; Feature Commentary with Director Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen.

2-Disc DVD Features: Gag Reels; Deleted & Extended / Alternate Scenes; Line-O-Rama: Re-watch some of the movie's funniest scenes, but this time with alternate punch lines; Feature Commentary with director Judd Apatow and stars Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen; Documentaries: Funny People Diaries; Judd's High School Radio Show; Raaaaaaaandy! Mockumentary; Music from Funny People; From the Archives: Watch Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow on a 1990 episode of The Midnight Hour with Bill Maher; Sandler's first appearance on David Letterman; and Seth Rogen doing stand up at thirteen years old; The Films of George Simmons; Prank Call 1990: Watch Sandler as he performs an actual prank phone call, in this archival footage from Judd Apatow's personal video library; Yo Teach…!: Go behind-the-scenes of Yo Teach…!, the television show featured in the film Funny People

Blu-rayTM Hi-Def Extras: Two more Line-O-Rama's; Additional Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scenes; Additional music and an extensive look at James Taylor on the set; Over an hour of stand up performances by the film's cast; Additional archival material including Sandler's second Letterman appearance, Sandler at Los Angeles' famed Comedy & Magic Club and Judd Apatow performing on The Dennis Miller Show; Prank calls from Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow; Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow's appearance on Charlie Rose; U-ControlTM: Funny People music: Additional insights into the music in the film, without ever leaving the movie; BD-LiveTM: Access the BD-LiveTM Center through any Internet-connected player to download more exclusive content, the latest trailers and more; My Chat: Using any Internet-connected player, host a text chat with friends while watching the movie in synchronization; My Funny People Commentary: Create play-by-play video, audio or text movie commentary and share it with friends through UniversalHiDef.com and the BD-Live Center; My Scenes Sharing: Bookmark favorite scenes from the movie to share with others on BD-Live.

Prairie Miller is a multimedia journalist online, in print and on radio. Contact her through NewsBlaze.