The line has been that Apatow should be judged first by what he directs, not necessarily what he produces – after all, the writers, directors and actors Apatow Prods. has incubated are branching out, and it’s harder to ensure consistent success when you’re trying to establish something new. But Funny People puts a ding in that argument – it’s not likely to reach the $109 million of Virgin or the $149 million of Knocked Up.
The weekend box-office makes the recent news about Apatow’s three-picture production deal at Universal so notable. It also makes you wonder how the studio will market/fare with the next Apatow Factory product, Get Him To The Greek, which reunites Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller behind the camera and Jonah Hill and Russell Brand in front of it.
As for Apatow himself, what he does next as a writer-director is anyone’s guess. From a commercial standpoint, it’s tempting, after the dramatic ambitions of Funny People, to say he should go more broadly comedic. Except we’d argue that the dramatic elements actually are what seem fresh in this movie (it’s the Apatow-ian broad stuff/d@&k jokes that are starting to feel a little old).
Besides, the character-driven material is exactly what gave juice to his first breakout, Virgin, which was a comedy with a strongly defined person at the center and a touch of the serious (only with the theme of chastity instead of mortality). Come to think of it Knocked Up – also “long,” incidentally – had some of those elements too. So this wasn’t as off-brand as some would have it.
The man who wore the Apatow crown when JA was still toiling in TV actually has had a similar trajectory. Todd Philips, working at a time before the R-rated comedy was in vogue, had two breakouts in a three-year span (Road Trip and Old School). He then endured a five-year dry spell with comedies like School For Scoundrels before returning in a big way this year.
For Apatow, this weekend demonstrates that the party may be over. Now he may be ready for his Hangover.
