FUNNY PEOPLE

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Writer/director Judd Apatow raises the stakes on his already stellar formula for generating laughs with a comedy that is equal parts sincerity and wit.

Set in a real-life world of Los Angeles stand-up comics, the story revolves around Adam Sandler, very much playing himself as George Simmons, a hugely successful comedian living it up in his Hollywood Hills mansion.

News that he's dying of leukemia inspires George to hire local newbie stand-up comic Ira Wright (perfectly played by Seth Rogen) to write jokes and work as a personal assistant who will guard George's medical secret from the press.

An awkward friendship develops between George and Ira as George tries to set the record straight with family members, old friends, and with his former fiancée Laura (played by Leslie Mann). Seth Rogen is an ideal comic foil for Sandler's character, and the film provides a great format for each to express a range of comic levels.

"Funny People" is by far Adam Sandler's best movie because Apatow writes comic set-pieces that allow germs of humor to expand between the more obvious laughs that Sandler hits with sharp-shooter accuracy.

At two-hours, twenty minutes, "Funny People" runs about fifteen minutes longer than it should. But this is still the funniest movie of the year.  

(Universal) Rated R. 140 mins.