Movie Reaction: 50/50

Formula:

Funny People - (30+ minutes of pointless story line) - (Sick celebrity) + (Sick lead I actually want to see live)

Spoiler alert. He lives.

 

Penned by a friend of Seth Rogen's and loosely based his cancer experience, it's kind of anthropic that he lives.

I liked this movie a lot. I give it a [surprisingly easy to achieve because I'm not a harsh critic] 9/10, but I walked into it already at least a 7/10. I was going to like it based on cast and previews alone. Reaction time though.

Cast

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does the drama.

Seth Rogen does the comedy.

Anna Kendrick is attractive (she's a pretty good actress too).

Bryce Dallas Howard plays a bitch character again.

And there's some older actors adding scenery, cracking jokes and being emotional when needed.

Seth Rogen can get me into a theater. JGL is virtually there. So, I've planned on seeing this since I heard about it.

No one stretches themselves in this. Rogen gets a dramatic credit to his name without having to change his normal pothead. Levitt plays it very believably (I can't imagine James McAvoy playing the role, as it was originally cast). Howard does a good job in a limited and single-layer role. Kendrick plays a lot more loose than she does in the other things I've seen her in and is delightful doing so. Everyone else does well with the bits they are given.

Plot

It hits every cord it's supposed to. It's very Hollywood. Happy ending. Hits you in the gut when needed. Gets you to tear up with the standard tricks. The story does take any unexpected turns. It never feels like it should either. I say all this in high praise.

A lot of movies with this material aspire to such high points, that it looses the entertainment. Cancer's bad and good people get sick. No hard points to make. Why complicate it?

Come awards season, this will be snubbed without a doubt, however, I doubt I'll like many of the front runners more than this.

Background

This is a pet project for friends Seth Rogen (actor, producer), Evan Golberg (producer), and Will Reiser (writer). Rogen's playing the same role he did for Reiser in real life (the main reason he isn't stretching himself acting). I kind of like that this is the kind of thing that Rogen and Golberg make with their Superbad and Pineapple Express goodwill.

Weaknesses

I hate to say it, but a lot of the stuff with Seth Rogen was tonally in a different movie. The point of his character is to be the one cracking jokes, "distracting" Lovett's character from his situation, but it isn't comfortably done throughout. It's a small quibble and didn't hurt from my enjoyment much. Still, there's scenes with that Apatow style ad-libbing that don't entirely feel comfortable with everything else going on.

Also, sorry. The previews used up most of the jokes. Anyone going in expecting Superbad though is missing the point.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend