[13:28] Tara Ariano: This was the first movie that we were going to recap together but watch separately (since I'm still in California), and I have to say, it just wasn't the same.
[13:29] Will Edmondson: Oh, hi Tara. Glad I could catch you between your manicure and pedicure to talk about Big Movie Wednesday. Can you see the screen, or are there cucumber slices in your way?
[13:29] Tara Ariano: I am a professional. I only need one eye.
[13:30] Will Edmondson: Good to know. But no, after watching all two and a half hours of "Funny People," I can see why you'd need a spa day. That movie was an undertaking. But I still enjoyed most of it.
[13:30] Tara Ariano: I'm not actually at the spa, you know. The TCA Press Tour is still happening. I ducked out last night so see it, and I'm drained.
[13:31] Will Edmondson: (ALLEGEDLY.)

[13:31] Tara Ariano: We say "movie," but it was almost like three movies in one. Or like a whole season of a TV sitcom, which I think is what Judd Apatow would really like to do (again).
[13:32] Will Edmondson: Yes, that makes sense.
[13:32] Tara Ariano: There was a point at the end where Daisy (Aubrey Plaza) and Ira (Seth Rogen) have a nice moment together and I had to ask myself, "That fight they had...was that in THIS movie?"
[13:33] Will Edmondson: Yes, it was a lot.
[13:33] Tara Ariano: I think Apatow creates these characters and loves them so much that he wants them all to have their time on screen and be developed, and it hurts the pace of his movies a lot.
[13:34] Will Edmondson: But I thought Adam Sandler was great as George Simmons, I thought the young comedians were great. I was totally into the movie until Sandler decided to try to get Apatow's real-life wife back. And that's where I kind of lost it, because really, Judd? You cast your wife (Leslie Mann) and children as the "perfect family"?
[13:34] Tara Ariano: Yeah, that was one of many plotline cul-de-sacs that didn't really pay off...at all. (Leaving aside the issue of making this movie a testament to Apatow's own awesome life.)
[13:35] Will Edmondson: At least Apatow's not Australian. That would've been too much.

[13:36] Will Edmondson: Another thing I really liked was the celebrity cameos. I'd read about them online, and I was worried, but Eminem was hysterical, it was cool to see Norm MacDonald and Dave Attell (though I'm not big on Sarah Silverman), and I thought it was believable that they'd all be hanging out as "showbiz friends" not "real friends," as Sandler (as Simmons) explained in the movie.
[13:39] Tara Ariano: Sure. I liked the comedy parts a lot. And if it had been a story about a very famous comic getting sick, making a friend who invigorated him, and then getting better and dealing with the aftermath, that would have been a great movie. I don't know why we needed to see it play out that this narcissistic (talented) jerk was not equipped to take on a divorced woman and her two children.
[13:40] Will Edmondson: Yes, and not only a jerk, but one who was so completely devoid of conscience that he seemed like a Dickens character.
[13:40] Tara Ariano: I think he's probably pretty typical of people at that stratum of show business.
[13:41] Will Edmondson: I'm sure Dane Cook is a very nice man, Tara.
[13:41] Tara Ariano: Is he at that stratum of show business?
[13:41] Will Edmondson: Dane Cook? God I hope not.

[13:41] Will Edmondson: But when "Funny People" bombed, it bombed: Like when Mrs. Apatow is appalled that Sandler doesn't cry as her daughter is singing "Memory" from "Cats." I didn't get that scene at all.
[13:42] Tara Ariano: I don't think that was so much a reflection on him as a PERSON as a reflection on him as a possible father for her children.
[13:42] Will Edmondson: No way! He's right, he's seen it on Broadway and it was better there! Sandler had gamed her so well up to that point, but now the power of text message keeps him from being fake-interested? I mean, didn't the audience agree with Sandler? Why was Seth Rogen tearing up?
[13:44] Tara Ariano: I really don't think WE were supposed to have that reaction; we were just supposed to know SANDLER should have.
[13:48] Will Edmondson: But how? He'd first met that kid like 20 minutes ago.
[13:48] Tara Ariano: Right, but as an extension of his one true love, he should have been moved.
[13:49] Will Edmondson: In what country, France?
[13:49] Tara Ariano: How did I get into the position of defending her? Let's agree this Laura thing was a storyline that didn't pay off, and move on.
[13:50] Will Edmondson: Fine by me. Marriage is terrifying.

[13:50] Will Edmondson: How'd you like the completely overacting Eric Bana?
[13:51] Tara Ariano: I thought he was really funny. I wish he did comedy more; that's actually his background, pre-"Hulk."
[13:51] Will Edmondson: Did you think he was convincing?
[13:52] Tara Ariano: As that guy? Yes.
[13:52] Will Edmondson: I thought he was a joke. I couldn't believe that anyone would think someone that ridiculous would (a) exist, and if he did, (b) have "that much of a heart." That whole "Eastern philosophy" angle? Are you kidding me? A rough-and-tumble Aussie-rules football lover who consults a Buddhist? Really?
[13:54] Tara Ariano: But he just had a superficial understanding of what he'd half-heard! That was the joke.
[13:54] Will Edmondson: My point is, that conversation never would have happened, under any circumstances. That guy was too much of a macho jock to ever "bring his guard down."
[13:54] Tara Ariano: He said stupid stuff because he thought it made him seem smart. That's how we saw he was narcissistic and insecure -- just like Sandler's character.
[13:55] Will Edmondson: Allow me to channel my inner Australian jock: Weak sauce, mate.

[13:58] Will Edmondson: This is the thing about "Funny People" as a whole: For a movie about comedy, it didn't include much comedy.
[13:58] Tara Ariano: Yes, and that's what I was most excited about.
[13:58] Will Edmondson: I wanted to see more Randy, I wanted to see more comics.
[13:59] Tara Ariano: I watched Aziz Ansari do more "Randy" live in January than was in the film. Another plot element that went nowhere.
[14:00] Will Edmondson: I mean, those RAAAAANDY documentaries are hilarious. I love that type of fake annoying funny. Like a completely self-aware Dane Cook
[14:01] Tara Ariano: Yes. This is the problem: there were a lot of great bits that didn't really coalesce. That's why I think it would have been interesting as a TV series.
[14:03] Will Edmondson: Yeah, it'd have made a great TV show, I agree. And I really hope the rumors are true and he's thinking of doing spin-offs around Randy, or the younger comedians' lives. Because a Jason Schwartzman "Yo Teach" movie or an Aziz "RAAAANDY" movie would be hilarious.
[14:03] Tara Ariano: If they can make a sequel about Russell Brand's character from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," anything is possible. But a whole half-hour of RAAAAAAANDY would be a lot to take.
[14:04] Will Edmondson: Not unless it was all about him on stage. If the movie was about him and how everyone hated him, but he was blissfully unaware, and running around stealing jokes and being a moron...
[14:04] Tara Ariano: Ah, I see. Yes, I would watch that.
[14:05] Will Edmondson: That'd be great, until the inevitable Apatow "morality plot twist" sank the movie in the second half. Just like "Knocked Up."
[14:06] Tara Ariano: Yeah.  Maybe he just needs a writing partner who will help him make the hard, necessary cuts.
[14:06] Will Edmondson: I mean, he definitely needs an editor.  He also needs to realize that it's okay to not have a "feel-good moment" in a movie.
[14:08] Tara Ariano: One feel-good moment is okay. A feel-good final act is...again, a lot.

[14:09] Will Edmondson: Yes, I think we agree: "Funny People" would've been an OUTSTANDING 110 minute movie, and a good 120 minute movie, but that last 26 minutes just really stole a lot away from the first two "acts."
[14:10] Tara Ariano: Amen.
[14:10] Will Edmondson: I mean there's nothing really to say about the first two thirds of that movie, because I really don't have any problems with it
[14:12] Tara Ariano: I agree. Everything about that part of the story was both true and entertaining. You can understand why people love him, and why they would hate him -- and both of those were combined in the same moment when he offers Ira $50,000 to kill him.
[14:12] Tara Ariano: Which was awesome.
[14:13] Will Edmondson: Yes, that was a great scene. I also loved the iTunes playlist scene, UNTIL the Warren Zevon reference. That was a little much. You'd never put "Keep Me in Your Heart" on a playlist for a dying guy. Good lord.
[14:14] Tara Ariano: No indeed. That's where you slot in Andrew W.K., duh!
[14:15] WillEdmondson: Yeah, though "Party 'Til You Puke" might be misinterpreted if you're always hugging the toilet bowl from complications with your cancer medication.
[14:16] Tara Ariano: "Party" means different things to different people.
[14:17] Will Edmondson: Ugh, I guess.

[14:18] Will Edmondson: Also, before we finish up; RZA!!!! So good!
[14:19] Tara Ariano: Yes, he was great, and yeah, I don't think we really differed on this one. Let's talk about what we think will be NEXT week's Big Movie, though.
[14:21] Will Edmondson: Man, if it's "Julie & Julia," I quit.
[14:22] Tara Ariano: If "Julie & Julia" beats "G.I. Joe," I think I will have to throw out everything I thought I knew about this country.
[14:23] Will Edmondson: I'm just so excited for how bad "G.I. Joe" is going to be that anything less will crush me. When the performance of Channing Tatum, star of "Fighting," is looked to to redeem a movie, you know it's in bad shape. And man, I just am so excited.
[14:25] Tara Ariano: And if it somehow IS "Julie & Julia," I will be half as entertained by the movie as I will be by your resentful squirming.
[14:25] WillEdmondson: Serenity now...serenity now.