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 I can say
honestly that there are a few good things about this movie, but not
enough. That will be dealt with in the bad.
The honest to god best parts of the film come from the comedy only.
There are some seriously good laughs to be had, mainly from the stand-up
comedy routines. We get to see Jonah Hill crack jokes, Seth Rogen crack
jokes, Adam Sandler crack jokes, and even James Taylor crack jokes.
The jokes come all over in this film. And when someone is standing on
the stage with the brick wall behind them, that is when this movie is at
it's best.
And that will lead to problems.
More good comes from the bit actors. The quick cameos from
Eminem, Norm Macdonald, Ray Romano, and countless others
that fill the screen for the sake of placing them in a world
we might recognize as Hollywood.
And then there are the slightly longer cameos from the
German doctor (who does, uncannily, look like the villain
from Die Hard but happens to be the tall nihilist from Big
Lebowski) and his comments in the bar scene are the best
part of the movie. Seriously. |
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Eric Bana can do no wrong. It's official. I
love the guy's work. I love him in crap movies like Troy. I love him in
epic awesome films like Munich. And again, he does not disappoint. He's
the most solid of actors throughout the entire film, and when he is
dramatic in the film, you believe it.
And Seth Rogen, thankfully, does not smoke and roll his way through this
movie. He does chuckle a lot and grunt and do his stupid acting style
throughout, but he's sufficient. He comes off looking a lot better than
most in this movie.
 The rest of
the film suffers from a large problem found within every single one
of Judd Apatow's directed films. It drags. On. And on. And on.
It's sad because if this film had been an hour and a half about
comedy and a guy dying, it could have been great.
But there is a massive chunk in the middle that seems to drag on
forever, only briefly cut by Adam Sandler on stage in one scene and
the return of Bana in another.
But the huge chunk of time spent on "character development" doesn't
work here, especially when the only character who truly seems to
learn or grow by the end of the movie is Jonah Hill. Some may say I
missed the point, but at the end, I'm thinking too little too late.
Leslie Mann's change in character doesn't feel realistic. She loves
him one moment and loves her family the next. It's too quick, too
easy, and way way too abrupt.
Adam Sandler from sick to healthy again too abrupt. He's depressed
one minute and boisterous the next. It just jumps all around with no
set motion or plan.
It feels like a jumbled mess with way too much going on and trying
to tell way too much story.
While I loved Freaks and Geeks, that show worked as a television
series. But if you tried to tell the entirety of that series in one
2 and a half hour movie, you'd probably end up with something like
this.
And it's sad, because laughing at the stand-up, laughing at the
jokes makes you happy. But it falls on it's face when they try to
inject the heart into it. And it proves to all the reviewers sick of
the Rogen/Apatow comedies that they may be on to something. Just
like the film itself, the comedies are losing steam.
This is not a movie for someone who doesn't like dick jokes. This is not
a movie for someone who hates Seth Rogen or Adam Sandler. This is a
movie to be watched for the comedy only, sitting at home with friends
with beers and skipping over the heartfelt nonsense.
It's time for Judd Apatow to decide what kinds of movies he wants to
make: comedies or dramas. It's pretty plain to see that he can't do
both.
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