Funny PeopleMovie Reviews

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So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 60 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 16+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

100

San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle
Funny People is a true brass ring effort, a reach for excellence that takes big risks. It's 146 minutes, with a story that's more European in feeling than American. Read full review
88

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
It's the work of a major talent. Apatow scores by crafting the film equivalent of a stand-up routine that encompasses the joy, pain, anger, loneliness and aching doubt that go into making an audience laugh. Read full review
88

USA Today | Claudia Puig
Funny People nimbly intersperses humor and reflection. It is a rumination on mortality, fame and life choices, punctuated with Apatow's trademark raunchy humor. Read full review
88

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert
The thing about Funny People is that it's a real movie. That means carefully written dialogue and carefully placed supporting performances -- and it's ABOUT SOMETHING. Read full review
80

Washington Post | Ann Hornaday
Even the most forced, artificial episodes in Funny People ring oddly true, because George's life -- the obscene wealth, the loneliness, the fame -- is odd. Perhaps not since "Sunset Boulevard" have the wages and eccentricities of celebrity been depicted with such tough, almost perverse honesty. Read full review
70

The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt
Apatow is on the right track. In moving his adolescent male comedies into more adult realms, the humor sharpens and characters deepen. Read full review
60

Variety | Todd McCarthy
Amusing and engaging yet lacking in snap and cohesion, this insider's look at the world of standup comics in contempo Los Angeles rings true in its view of the variously warped, stunted and narrow lives of its mostly male denizens. Read full review
42

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum
The message that comes across is: We're all screwed, and then we die. Ba-DUM. Read full review
40

The New York Times | Manohla Dargis
There's something irritatingly self-satisfied about Funny People, which explains why, though it glances on the perils of fame, it mostly affirms its pleasures. Read full review
40

Los Angeles Times |
Any sort of new insight into comedy's darker themes, to say nothing of life's, eludes Funny People. Instead Sandler and Rogen and the rest are left to wander aimlessly, with tedious comedy gigs, an even more tedious faux sitcom and relatively vapid relationships masquerading as a plot. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Funny People on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Stand-up saga has a foul mouth but brains and heart, too.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that director Judd Apatow's latest comedy is loaded with the strong language (from "f--k" to "p---y" and then some), adult behavior, and sexualized material (including lots of penis jokes and one scene with naked breasts) you'd expect from the man behind Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But it's also an honest, sincere drama about the challenges of modern life. Look past the crude stuff, and you'll see that this is actually a serious, heartfelt film masquerading as a light comedy.

Families can talk about how the movie's style of humor impacts its more dramatic themes. Do the two "sides" of the movie go well together? Would the movie be as entertaining if the humor was less crude?
Does the fact that someone's dying automatically make them a better person? And does a reprive from a terminal diagnosis automatically mean that someone will lead a better life?
Is stand-up comedy just entertainment, or is it an art form? Are stand-up comedians all tortured artists, or is it something that has its ups and downs?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Despite its crude humor, the movie's messages are actually moving and worthwhile -- about the importance of ethics, the nature and challenge of success, and the way that we often turn pain into laughter even though it doesn't complelety eliminate the underlying problem. This isn't a movie about people making jokes -- it's about people making art.
Positive role models: While none of the characters in Funny People are anywhere near perfect, that very fact makes them dramatically and morally interesting -- every character in the film at some point has to make a choice about whether or not to do the right thing. Ira makes lots of compromises in the name of money and access, but he questions these things. And George is a self-absorbed success, but his brush with death makes him really think about what it means to be alive.

What to watch for

Violence: One scene of inept (though enthusiastic) scuffling between two people who clearly don't know how to fight. It's played for comedic effect, but some of the slapping gets pretty serious.
Sex: Sex scenes involving nude breasts and blunt talk; love scenes; extensive discussion of sex, infidelity, and more. Lots of penis jokes.
Language: Constant strong language, including (but not limited to ) "f--k," "motherf--ker," "s--t," "balls," "prick," "dick," "c--k," "bitch," "titty," "p---y," "goddamn," "oh my God," and much more. One use of the "N" word, as a descriptive term rather than a racial epithet.
Consumerism: Multiple mentions of commerical brands, services, products, and entertainers as part of conversations or stand-up comedy acts. Specific brands mentioned include Apple, MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo, Craigslist, PayPal, Bud Light, Target, Best Buy, JDate.com, Diet Coke, Wii Fit, Panda Express, and more.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Characters drink beer, wine, and hard liquor and, in one scene, smoke marijuana. Stand-up performances take place in bars.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.