Apparently there's only one thing funnier than willy jokes and unwanted babies, and that's death. Having tackled the life basics of love, drugs, puberty, and popping one's cherry, Judd Apatow decided to take on mortality for his third directorial outing. As unfunny as it sounds, Funny People is in fact Apatow's richest and most thoughtful movie yet, as he delves into more adult realms with sharper humour and a greater depth of characters.

Decidedly more realistic and distinctly personal, Funny People presents Apatow's out-of-the-box critique of the superficiality and fragility of his own profession. Opening with real footage of room-mates Adam Sandler and Apatow playing pranks in their college days, the semi-autobiographical feat plays out as a tribute to one of the director's oldest friends and diverges into a love letter to his wife, featuring his real-life missus Leslie Mann and two daughters.

Mann stars as the 'love-of-my-life' ex of stand-up comedian-turned-movie-star George Simmons (Sandler), a prickly, hedonistic loner who is diagnosed with a rare and fatal disease. Reaching an unnecessarily long running time of 146 minutes, the film essentially plays out as two features stitched together. The first act sees the depressed Simmons discover some much-needed 'bromance' in the form of new-found assistant Ira (Seth Rogen), while the second explores Simmons' attempt to win back his woman.

Even though the film may well have worked better at half the length, Eric Bana's appearance as the estranged husband would have been sorely missed and ultimately it's the Aussie's performance that carries the film through. While neither Jonah Hill nor Jason Schwartzman (Rogen's roomies) are destined for McLovin-esque iconhood they too put on a good show. Other great additions include Torsten Voges as a Swedish doctor (cue the IKEA jokes) and cameos from Eminem and Everybody Loves Raymond's Ray Romano.

With the whole of Hollywood singing Apatow's praises, it's hardly surprising that Funny People self-indulges a little and is clearly far too long, but few will deny that it marks a transitional point in the director's career. By substituting his usual Frat Pack format for this unusual 'dramedy' mish-mash, Apatow manages to avoid the customary clichés, touching on more mature material yet keeping hold of the all-important testicle talk.

Charlotte Balnave