Funny People

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Funny People!

Original image located here. Accessed 1st December 2023

Once again, I try to sit through a movie starring Adam Sandler. I have already made my view on Adam Sandler clear previously so to find something where he isn't confined to the formula that made him famous is a challenge and a half. I have been lucky so far (see Reign Over Me and 50 First Dates) so can this recommendation keep that hot streak going?

Apparently no. 
First lets talk the positives:
 - Once again Sandler is playing a jerk but this is shaken up in some interesting ways: Halfway through the movie he makes the effort to stop being a jerk but for second half, this character clearly hasn't learned anything and is still being a jerk. So props to Sandler for taking the time to reconsider the role that made him famous
 - The cameos are fun. The appearances of James Taylor and Eminem are of particular note.
 - Eric Bana's presence was great (you can just tell he is a major St Kilda fan, right?)
 - Given that this movie is about stand-up comedy and features many comedians this clearly was a labour of love for the craft. So I'll give it that much.

But the Achilles heel of this movie is it's length. It's a bloated two and half hour run hat could easily been shorn of thirty minutes - or even forty five. Some scenes drag on and come across as pointless. And matters aren't helped with not all the jokes hitting the mark, leaving moments of radio silence.

So yeah, a disappointment if ever there was one

50 First Dates

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... 50 First Dates!

Original image located here. Accessed 29th September 2023

If there has been a theme with my film selection of this year, it is the notion that I have been going through my 'To Watch' list and clearing some of the titles on it. Some of which have been on there for so long that I may have forgotten why I put it on there in the first place.
So why this movie? Beats me.
It's not much of a stretch to say that Adam Sandler is something of a punchline making crummy movies, through his production company Happy Madison, that are notorious for some really lousy humour. I can't say I have actively sought out his work but Still I was at least willing to give this film a chance. After all, if Adam Sandler can form a production company, Happy Madison, so he and his friends can make the movies they want then that is no different than Margot Robbie forming a production company, Lucky Chap, so she and her friends can make the movies they want.

It seems that when you watch a Happy Madison movie, you know exactly what you're getting in for: Dumb jokes that both repulse and age like milk. So given that these jokes are present in this movie, I should hate this movie. Likewise, this movie has become disreputable in recent years for it's depiction of a guy manipulating a woman with short term memory loss into making her fall in love with him. 
Major strikes to be sure but what works in this movie works wonders. Sandler and Barrymore make for an engaging on-screen couple, clearly Sandler is trying something different compared to the rest of his oeuvre, the tragic angle of living with someone with short term memory loss and certain moments that hit hard.
So yeah, when the movie works it works great. And almost makes the uncomfortable stuff excusable.

...........Almost