'Funny People' have problems too

Adam Sandler turns in his best performance since “Punch-Drunk Love” in Judd Apatow’s dramedy “Funny People.” A box office bomb for multiple reasons (a mishandled and misrepresentative ad campaign; a 146-minute runtime; an art-film sheen), it’s still a modest triumph for the Judd Apatow canon.

His other films may have more laughs-per-minute, but none of them have the depth of character and emotion on display here. Sandler as a dying superstar comedian, Leslie Mann as his former girlfriend and Seth Rogen as his hired writer and fast friend and are all fine tragicomic figures.

The features highlight is a spirited full-length commentary by Apatow with Sandler and Rogen, and the four-part “Funny People Diaries” is a worthy document. Also included is an episode of the fictional sitcom “Yo Teach!” and a glut of archival stand-up footage of Sandler and Rogen as amateurs. More medicore features include a look at the fictional films of George Simmons (which is still admirable for Sandler’s ability to admit most of his movies are shit), and a faux-doc on Randy, the particularly unfunny Aziz Ansari.

“Funny People” is certainly Apatow’s most misunderstood effort. Those expecting a non-stop yuk-fest are better off dusting off their copies of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.” Anyone willing to brave the waters of a more ambitious dramedy from the mind of Apatow should certainly give these funny folks a chance.