Funny People

Please take a deep breath, make sure you're seated, and don't read on if anatomical terms offend you. Seriously, if you don't enjoy discussing body parts, stop reading. Penis. Schlong. Johnson. You'll be hearing a lot of terms like this (and some stronger and more crude variants) if you go to the Loma to watch Funny People starring Adam Sandler. Director Judd Apatow's latest work portrays the life of a popular comedic star. To be honest, I can't say I know too much about the stand-up comedy scene, but if Apatow's depiction is accurate, penis jokes are a mainstay on the circuit. Frankly, I wasn't terribly amused at all the genital and sexual references. However, before panning the film completely, I will say that if - and that's a BIG 'if' - you can see past the sophomoric vulgarity, this film does have some redeeming qualities.

Despite the rampant crudeness, the film does have a certain charm to it, with an ensemble of quirky characters making up the supporting cast of struggling stand-up comedians. To be honest, there weren't too terribly many laughs in a film that is ostensibly supposed to be a comedy; if you find penis jokes entertaining, this film might make you fall out of your chair laughing, but if not then you may only get a few chuckles. However, the film does a somewhat nice - if silly - job of illustrating some more serious life lessons. The main character's struggles with fame, fortune, money-hungry fans, and love (and lost love) are at times endearing. One thing that I appreciated in the film was that the storybook ending that was telegraphed and expected, didn't in the end happen. Much like real life, sometimes there's no turning back the clock, as the main character in the film discovers.

Speaking of turning back the clock, if I could rewind I'd probably skip this film if I lived in Albuquerque. But I live in Socorro, and there's not much else to do here. So, depending on your tolerance for penis references, you might consider attending. Or not. I've seen worse at the Loma recently - The Ugly Truth was the worst, crudest, and most laughter-void comedy I've ever seen, for example. As far as being a date movie, it really depends on your date's penis-joke-ometer, I suppose, but as a husband I'd say not so much.

This film merits 2 out of 5 chili's on the Socorro News red-n-green chili scale.