Tougher Game
“My goal was to make a film that was just as funny as my other two films, but which also dug a lot deeper and was not afraid to be more emotional,” Judd Apatow has told Roger Ebert. “We didn’t put anything in the film just to be funny — it also had to get at the truth of this type of situation. It was very scary because I am so used to letting the laugh count guide me as to whether or not the movie is working well. Sometimes this movie is working really well when there are no laughs. That’s new for me. I prefer to hear noises from the crowd wall-to-wall to make me sleep better at night.”
Apatow also says he’s always had “a good ear for writing in the voice of the comics I was writing jokes for, but it took me decades to believe my own point of view would be interesting to people. I could never believe that comics would allow me into their world. The hard part about writing this movie was the fact that the comedians I wrote for were very nice to me. Nothing dramatic ever happened.”
Jeff — don’t remember you making any comment about the look of Funny People, but Kaminski was the d.o.p. on Funny People — how does it look? How much more stylish/good-looking is it than Apatow’s previous efforts?
the suspense is killing me, because almostsucceeds and imperfection is where the beauty lays, so said my friend to me after Away We Go
actionman, I thought Jack Green did really wonderful work on Virgin. That film looked better than it had any right to.
Actionman: I’ve seen it too, and I can tell you that it’s one of the most gorgeously shot comedies I’ve ever seen. Especially in the “transition” scenes, there’s a lot of moody, impressionistic stuff that almost remins one of THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY.
Movie IS too long, but it’s also the funniest of the year so far, and again, Kaminski really delivers!
yeah, I wasn’t necessarily putting down the look of Apatow’s other movies. it’s just that when I heard that Janusz Kaminski was the d.o.p. on Funny People, I had to do a double take. but I agree, Green a’int no slouch.
Wow, Goulet. Making comparisons to the work Kaminski did in Diving Bell is serious praise indeed. Can’t wait to see it.
From the clips I’ve seen it looks more like Vilmos Zsigmond’s work on Jersey Girl.
never saw that one…
*transitions* are not scenes
Hence the quote marks.
transitions are measured by how well they are designed within the movie by the director; last king of scotland had beautiful transitions. yes, i’m being pissy.
the transitions in Marc Forster’s Stay were brilliant
too bad the rest of the movie was a muddle. a stylish muddle but a muddle nonetheless…
I haven’t seen Funny People yet, but it sounds to me like Apatow is returning to the mix he employed in Freaks & Geeks. While that show was funny, it wasn’t anything close to a typical teen sitcom. I’m wondering if the cancellation of that show after one season pushed Apatow in the direction of going for more laughs in his films. Since Virgin and Knocked Up were so successful, maybe he has the confidence to move back to the Freaks & Geeks model of mixing the comedy with more drama.
If anybody who is a fan of Freaks & Geeks has seen Funny People, please let me know if this is the case.
There are too many things that violate the voyeurs eye in Funny People. The Adam Sandler character has a form of leukemia, but does not lose weight or show any sign of illness,
It is funny at times and a heartfelt effort that falls too long.
actionman, just call em DP’s and be done with it.
“transitions are measured by how well they are designed within the movie by the director”
If you’re going to be pissy, you should try combining it with accuracy; “transitions” fall under the “editing” category. The writer might have them in mind in the script, the director might have them in mind during production, and the DP should have a sense of them so that the shots “fit” together properly, but it’s the editor who controls the actual transition.
In any case, turns out the original commenter was talking about a montage — a totally different ball of wax.