Funny People may just be one of the biggest let downs I’ve experienced this year. I enjoyed it, I really did. I even freaked out from the moment I found out who was cast in it. I especially loved the viral marketing – ‘Yo, Teach’ , the Raaaaaaaandy documentaries, and especially Sandler’s character George Simmons’ fake movie trailers – they’ve all given me huge laughs. I was even excited to see Seth Rogen on screen with Sandler again, which hasn’t occurred since he was a nobody in Undeclared, in what is easily one of the best episodes. Not to mention this is coming from the director of two of the greatest comedies of the decade, so how the hell could this movie not be good?

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a character who, career-wise, is essentially himself. He started out doing comedy albums, which led to a ton of movies, which led the whole country to love him. Oh and later on in the process, he started doing high budget, low quality movies that are laughable for all the wrong reasons. Remember Click or You don’t mess with the Zohan? Simmons does movies just like that. Big stretch of a role for Sandler, isn’t it?

Seth Rogen (Ira), Jonah Hill (Leo), and the awesome Aubrey Plaza (Daisy), the intern from Parks and Recreation, all play stand up comedians. Ira and Leo are both roomates with Mark Taylor Jackson, the epic badass that puts the Teach in Yo, Teach. He’s the kind of guy who actually has his own head shot framed on his wall. His character is so into the fact that he’s on TV, he actually seems to think he’s better than people, and his smug douchiness makes his character hilarious. Between Coconut Records, and his amazing roles in his two Wes Anderson Movies, I can safely say that he heterosexually has my heart.

As for the plot, we quickly find out that George is sick, and much of the movie consists of him dealing with the issue of facing death, something you’d far from expect in an Apatow film. The subplot is mainly predicable, with him chasing an old flame in Leslie Mann, who of course is in another relationship. Oh and guess what, the Apatow children, Maude and Iris, are in this one, too. I guess it’s not an Apatow film without the whole family involved. I mean I love all four of them, and the girls are all good actresses too, but damn would it be nice for some different actors for once. Who knows what would happen if Judd did a movie without his family and Seth, Jonah, and Carla Gallo. My guess is world implosion.

Half of the film takes place in a mansion, which gives it such an Entourage feel, but the comparisons stop there. Pretty much everything revolves around George’s illness and relationships, but even after such a long film, the character seemingly learns nothing, while the plot feels like it went absolutely no where. The way they show such a tragic, physical fight and end it with an all accepting apology, it just seems so forced, and almost unbelievable.

I did in fact like it though. Maybe it was the fact that I’ve never heard Wilco mentioned so many times in a movie. I did really enjoy the few good jokes when they showed up, but It seemed like there was barely any of the hilarious improv they’re all so known for. Jonah also kept throwing in Seth Rogen being skinny jokes while Sandler called Jonah a XXXL version of Seth, so I didn’t lose total faith either. With this being the last Seth Rogen comedy film for a while, hopefully he’ll come back with something better, because at the core, Funny People is not just a comedy.