BY MIKEY MIGO
I'm an Apatow fan. I'm a fan of his writing, producing, and overall body of work going back to "Larry Sanders", "Freaks and Geeks", and all the way to "Pineapple Express". Sure, there are some movies and projects that I watch once and then never again, but for the most part I appreciate his brand of humor. That being said, I'm not a fanboy and still feel I can be objective towards his work. Pretty much the same exact thing can be said for Rogen and Sandler. So obviously I was personally looking forward to this movie. I didn't go out and see it on opening night, but I knew our paths would eventually cross. This past weekend, it did. The movie is pretty damn good. It's not JUST a "dick and fart joke" movie as a lot of douche bag critics would want it to be. It was a huge mature step forward. Sandler plays a famous comedian who's diagnosed with a deadly illness. Rogen plays an upcoming, not so funny comedian. Their paths cross and Rogen ends up being hired to be Sandler's assistant and writer. They really don't go back and forth much at all. Rogen is pretty much Sandler's bitch and pretty much sucks at life. I fail to mention that his character lies to friends, steals jokes, and has no spine. In the end, he's still the same person but is magically "cool" and gets the girl. That's enough for one movie right there, but there's another whole plot that involves Leslie Mann. She's the "girl who got away" for Sandler and he turns to her when diagnosed. She comes back around, but now is married to Eric Bana and has two kids (Team Apatow). I liked the movie, I REALLY did. I want to watch it again and again, but its Apatow's third best of his three projects. That's still at a high regard, but this did feel like two movies. I can deal with movies that are long, but ones that feel long are the problem. I found myself checking the time to see how much had past. That's never a good thing. That's my biggest complaint. Too long and too many dull places that really didn't make me laugh or develop anything within the story. It's good for what it is, but what it is is like a half hour too long. B
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