Adam Sandler might have found his perfect role, by playing what he knows best: a multimillionaire, successful, popular comedian and Hollywood actor. We meet George Simmons as he discovers, quite suddenly, that he has leukemia. His doctor guesses he has about a year to live, and in Simmons’ depression, with no real friends to see, he goes along to the comedy club where his career began, restarting his stand-up career. He soon confides in an aspiring stand-up comic (Rogen), and gets in touch with his ex-fiancé (Mann), who is now married to an Australian businessman (Bana). Will George be able to make amends for his past mistakes, or has his ego taken him to the point of no return?

Judd Apatow has become the king of Hollywood comedy in recent years, and chooses to write & direct (Knocked Up, 40-Year-Old Virgin) himself only when the project has something interesting to say. But he always casts some of the best comic acting talent in the U.S. today, with Superbad stars Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, and Rushmore’s Jason Schwartzman, who helps provide the film score. Much of the main cast are former stand-ups, the film features several celebrities, from the beautiful to the forgotten, playing downbeat versions of themselves, and Apatow casts his own wife in a romance with Sandler, his good friend and former roommate. What really makes Funny People insightful is this level of personal experience going into the film.