Drama and comedy collided Monday night when the American Film Institute previewed Judd Apatow’s latest film, ‘Funny People,’ at the Arclight Hollywood. Apatow, who wrote and directed the movie, appeared in person for a post-screening discussion, moderated by ‘At The Movies’ critic Ben Lyons. The dramedy, which features fellow Palisadian Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife), opens tomorrow nationwide. ’Funny’ stars Sandler as a glorified version of himself”a successful former stand-up comedian who has reached Hollywood’s greatest heights, but is diagnosed with a fatal blood disease. He’s kind of the Napoleon of comedy: he’s conquered Hollywood with dumb-dumb hits such as ‘Mer-Man’ and ‘My Best Friend Is a Robot,’ and he lives trapped in a Malibu vision of Versailles. The movie explores how his diagnosis (and, later, misdiagnosis) affects this lonely, miserable, modern-day Pagliacci. As he relives his past, including reconnecting with ex-girlfriend Mann (now married with children), Sandler is joined for the ride by his writer, Rogen, an aspiring stand-up comedian who shares a pad with fellow aspirant Hill and budding sitcom star Jason Schwartzman. ’Funny’ is as soft and paunchy in the middle as, well, middle age. A genial comedy laced with profanity, ‘Funny People’ comes off as 42-year-old Apatow’s tribute to the stand-up comedy world and his own past. ’I had no idea I was the old guy until I saw you guys,’ Sandler’s character says, addressing a Thanksgiving dinner with his charge of young comics (and perhaps reflecting Apatow’s feelings). A who’s who of comedy-world figures (and a couple from the music industry) have cameos, while home movies of a 20-year-old pre-stardom Sandler playing phone pranks are incorporated into the film’s opening moments. While Apatow wears his edgy comedy heroes on his sleeve (or rather, on Rogen’s apartment walls and T-shirts: John Belushi, Rodney Dangerfield, comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, MAD magazine), even the steady stream of expletives cannot bury ‘Funny”s cream filling and melodramatic underpinnings. This rambling movie perks up whenever Hill is onscreen. His unbridled energy steals the movie, such as when his character chides Rogen’s for having lost weight, claiming fat people are funnier: ‘No one wants to see Lance Armstrong do comedy.’ Unfortunately, Hill’s scenes are few. The biggest surprise is how vanilla Mann’s material is here, compared to the juicy role Apatow afforded his wife in ‘Knocked Up.’ The couple’s young daughters, Maude and Iris, are used to better effect. In addition to the comics, sharp-eyed Angelenos will catch local spots making cameos, including Century City, Larchmont Village, West Hollywood’s Palm restaurant, and the Novel Caf’ in Santa Monica. Known for his salty humor, Apatow effortlessly wove crude language throughout his laid-back Q & A appearance. He said that he found inspiration in classics such as ‘Lenny’ and ‘All That Jazz,’ and revealed that ‘Funny’ sprang from an idea for an unrealized TV program centered on a rich comic actor titled ‘The Billionaire,’ but it had evolved into ‘kind of a demented ‘Tuesdays With Morrie.” And he sought the help of director P.T. Anderson (‘There Will Be Blood’ and Sandler’s ‘Punch-Drunk Love’) during the editing process. ’This is like Alfred Hitchcock coming in and giving me notes,’ Apatow said. The home movies of Sandler were Apatow’s: ‘I saved those for 20 years from when I lived with Adam. When he moved to L.A., we moved in together and we had a lot of energy that we didn’t know what to do with. We were unemployed and only had our 20 minutes at the Improv.’ With his producer’s credit on every recent comedy from ‘Anchorman’ to ‘Stepbrothers,’ it’s hard to believe that this is only Apatow’s third comedy as a director. He did not shy away from what will become this movie’s greatest criticism: too long. At two hours and 26 minutes, ‘Funny’ rivals ‘Transformers 2′ and the latest Harry Potter for epic length. ’I was trying to go against some of the classical structural teachings of comedy that I learned for many years,’ Apatow explained. While forcing Sandler, Rogen and Hill to do stand-up and experience the ‘treadmill of neediness’ that develops from working comedy-club stages, Apatow said that Sandler ‘wasn’t thrilled to have to go back.’ Regarding working his daughters into his films, Apatow said that came naturally from their being around the set, but added ‘I’m not renting them out to M. Night Shyamalan next year. But they’re getting better and that’s scary!’ When asked about the positives of living in Pacific Palisades, Apatow responded, ‘I have a basic rule: can I shoot it close to home? I often joke that the ideal location for me would be walking distance from my house.’ Relatively close, anyway. He shot footage for ‘Knocked Up’ at Santa Monica’s Swingers, while a Zuma Canyon residence doubled as Marin County in ‘Funny.’ Sandler’s mansion was located near Pepperdine University. ’Should I get an award from Governor Schwarzenegger for keeping film production in town?’ he asked. ‘Even though it’s because I’m too lazy to leave town?’ Apatow has always been known for his ’emo’-comedies, but ‘Funny’ proves to be his most ambitious undertaking. ’This movie means the most to me,’ he said. ‘It was so personal and naked to me. It’s just like my” And we’ll leave the rest up to your imagination.
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