There are certain actors that I know I can count on to give a top-notch performance every time, regardless of the quality of the film itself (Maggie Gyllenhaal, for example). Then we have those who can always be counted on to make you want to run screaming out of the theatre with the first word out of their mouths (Rob Schneider, anybody?). The really frustrating ones are the people who, every once in a very great while, give performances that knock you right off your feet, and then settle back to dial down the charisma and basically sleepwalk through everything they do for their next ten movies. They show you they CAN act, then proceed to not do so. Adam Sandler would have to be near the top of the list in this category. He was great in "Punch Drunk Love", I found him very funny in "The Wedding Singer" (in which he was unusually low key) and I genuinely thought he was of Oscar caliber in the very underseen "Reign Over Me" in 2007. But most of the time, it's sleepwalk acting. And I'm afraid that's the case again in "Funny People".

This is the story of a super-star stand-up comedian and comic actor (Sandler) who has been diagnosed with leukemia and told he probably has only a short time to live. Taking experimental medications that only have an 8 percent success rate, he starts re-evaluating his life. He also encounters a fanatical fan and would-be stand-up (Seth Rogan) whom he hires as his assistant and opening act, mentoring him. The movie is essentially the story of the two of them as Rogan becomes both disillusioned with and inspired by his idol, and Sandler tries to figure out what his life has really been about.

That storyline probably gives you the impression that this picture is a somber gloom-fest. Part of the time it is, but it is, after all, written & directed by Judd Apatow, his third film as a director after "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" (and countless others as a producer), so there's also plenty of his rude, crude comedy style. The two approaches definitely don't mix well and often make you think you're watching two different movies. That isn't the main problem the film has, however. THAT would be that neither of the two halves have the impact that Apatow seems to be aiming for: the dramatic half never has the pathos and insight that it needs, and the comic half just plain isn't funny. In fact, you really wonder if Sandler's character could possibly have become such a star in real life.

You also can't ignore a very spotty series of performances by the main cast. In "Rain Over Me", Sandler was excellent and touching as he showed us the pain of a man whose wife had been killed on 9/11, but you never get a sense of his dilemma here: he just mopes a lot, mutters his lines without much feeling, and occasionally has outbursts that will remind you of the whiny sarcasm he'd perfected in too many other movies. Leslie Mann, plays his former (now married) flame whom he attempts to rekindle a relationship with. She at least is clearly awake (unlike Sandler), but never seems to be projecting any kind of real, discernable personality or emotion. On the other hand, Eric Bana turns in an effectively complex performance as Mann's husband, wavering between resentment and sympathy for Sandler and often being quite unexpectedly funny (who would have thought that the star of "Munich" would provide more comic moments than Sandler)? And Seth Rogan delivers the perfect blend of comedy and drama that the film's star can't manage, actually managing to get laughs with some sub-par material as well as making you understand his mixed reactions as he gets to know the man his idol really is.

I've always thought that both of Apatow's two previous directorial efforts were clearly longer than they needed to be: as far as I'm concerned, the longer a  comedy gets past the ninety-minute point, the less funny it becomes, and both of this previous films topped out at slightly longer than two hours, as a result combining really funny moments with long dull stretches. "Funny People" is no improvement in that department: in fact, it's even longer, at a full two and a half hours. Even some of the more effective elements just drag out past the point of no return, and by the end of the film I almost felt like I'd been in the theatre long enough to have seen a double feature. Mind you, I've enjoyed three-hour-plus movies in the past... the thing is, those movies NEEDED to be that long, and "Funny People" just plain doesn't.

I'm not sure why Judd Apatow felt that drama and pathos needed to be added to his usual mix, and I'm not sure why Sandler felt the approach he took to his role was the best way to go for this film. Actually, I'm puzzled by a lot of things about this movie. A pure Apatow comedy (since, based on this film he clearly has no knack for drama) that ran about 90 to 100 minutes and featured Sandler in his "Wedding Singer" mode could have been one of the highlights of the moviegoing year. As it is, what we have is a film that doesn't really present any of its participants in their best light. If you're a big fan of Seth Rogan or Eric Bana you MIGHT be amused to see them in ways you haven't seen them before, but fans of Sandler, Apatow and Mann would do just as well to just pretend that "Funny People" never existed. It was, indeed, made by funny people, but to watch this film you'd never know it.