There's something a bit funny about the Funny People marketing campaign — and not just in the ''ha-ha'' sense. Depending on which trailer you've seen for Judd Apatow's latest directorial effort, which opens July 31, the film is either a poignant story about a terminally ill comedian (Adam Sandler), or a fun, filthy romp in which Sandler and costar Seth Rogen trade raunchy jokes in the tradition of Apatow's previous hits, The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. In fact, the movie is both. And that blend represents an artistic leap for Apatow and a tricky sales job for Universal Pictures, which is hoping to simultaneously draw fans of dramedies like Terms of Endearment and of R-rated comedies like The Hangover.
On the set last year, Apatow acknowledged the challenge: ''This is a hard
movie to talk about. It's a lot of different kinds of movies in one.''
But costar Jonah Hill insists that while Funny People explores deeper
emotional terrain, it's still very much an Apatow comedy: ''Just because
the guy is suffering from a serious illness doesn't mean we stopped
making d--- jokes.'' Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, who has a small role in the movie,
has a different take: ''People keep saying this is a more serious side of
Judd Apatow. But I don't think it gets more serious than a dude being a
virgin at 40. That is really sad.'' And that's no joke.
— Additional reporting by Carrie Bell
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