Funny People by Judd Apatow featuring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan, and Leslie Mann among many others is a masterpiece. On the surface, this film is simply about a famous comedian who is dying and takes a struggling comedian under his wing to both help him perfect his craft while taking care of him and keeping him company. Some will say this movie is too long, some will say that the movie feels like two different films, and to that I say, sure. Those are valid arguments. But from where I am standing, Adam Sandler’s portrayal of George Simmons is one of the most fascinating character studies that I have ever seen in a movie. To understand Simmons as a character, you first have to have context to how the movie opens. The first scene shows Simmons in a doctors office, being told that he has cancer. Very Walter White esc. As the doctor explains to him the severity of his illness, Simmons attention drifts off. He is staring at the doctor’s photos in his office, pictures of his wife and kids. In that moment, Simmons immediately feels regret for his entire life. He sees a life where he has pushed his family away, explained in a later scene with his sister, he lost the love of his life, played by Leslie Mann’s character, and he has no friends. So he goes to the only place he feels any worth. The comedy club. He is the star there. As he mumbles along in his performance, he feels alive again. He only identifies as a “funny person” and nothing more. After his performance, Seth Rogan’s character follows him, and well he sucks. But a few scenes later, Simmons calls up Ira (Rogan’s character) and offers him a job. Ira’s job is pretty simple. He will be the only person who knows about George’s illness and he will essentially serve as a friend/caretaker. Simmons life is so full of emptiness and regret, that he has to pay some nobody to be his friend. In some ways, he is a tragedy. He spends most of his time either cracking jokes to remind himself that people “like” him, or he reminisces on what his life could have been. He chose an empty life of meaningless sex and fake friends and now, as he stares down death, he has no one but a failing comedian who is being paid to spend time with him. We see scenes where he rekindles a spark with his old flame (Mann’s character), we see him give an emotional speech at Thanksgiving about appreciating every moment you have. He is just a guy who wants a second chance at life. But here is the twist. He gets that chance. Halfway through the film, the doctor informs Simmons that he is cancer free. He has been given that second chance. The film is so fascinating to me because we get to see Simmons arc while going through his illness, how he wishes he could have a 2nd chance in life. Now we get to see what he does with it. The only thing that he wants out of his second chance is Laura(Mann’s character). She is married and has two kids, but in his eyes, she is the epitome of everything he realized he wants in life. He drags Ira to her house in Northern California, and they spend the weekend with Laura and her kids. Laura and George even have a romantic moment where in George’s eyes, he was winning back the one that got away. But then something funny happened. The glamour wore off. George slowly began to question whether this life is for him. He started showing off in front of Laura about his hollywood connections, he started being a jerk. He wanted the life and family with Laura, but he wasn’t willing to put his ego aside, which is why they didn’t work to begin with. Things only get more complicated when Laura’s husband Clarke returns home from China. Sandler’s character is trying to win over Laura, even though doing this would essentially ruin their family, as Ira points out. But Simmons doesn’t care. He wants to prove to himself that his life has meaning. That the epiphany he had actually meant something. That he was a changed man. But by trying to be this changed man, he showed his true colors. That he is a selfish asshole. This story ended how it should have. Laura stays with her husband, and Simmons leaves with a black eye. His friendship with Ira is essentially over because he feels he betrayed him by not letting him be happy with Laura. And this is where, in my opinion, the best scene takes place. Ira and Simmons are driving back to LA, and Simmons is just ripping on Ira. He is explaining to Ira that for a guy who is a comedian, he is remarkably unfunny. Comedy is for “funny people”. That is when Rogan delivers the best line in the movie. “Well if funny people are like you, then I don’t want to be funny”. Simmons entire existence, his second chance that was gifted to him, was just thrown in his face when Laura decided to stay with her husband. He felt like his entire arc in the first half of the movie was for nothing. So he went back to the one thing that he could rely on. Being a funny person. Rogan hitting him with the returning line is a wake up for Simmons. Being funny, rich, and successful never made him happy, and this low blow by Ira affirms that. Simmons character is one that fascinates me. He goes through the entire first half of the movie wishing for a second chance, and when he got that, he still didn’t get the happy ending he wanted, because no matter how bad he desired that life, he was never going to be anything more than one of the funny people.