August 5, 2009 -- Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler, who both specialize in raunchy, vulgar comedies aimed at the teenage male audience, have teamed up to produce another raunchy, vulgar comedy aimed at the teenage male audience. This one is bit more grown up in its storyline than the usual adolescent Sandler comedy (the main exception is “Punch-Drunk Love” which proved to be far too mature and complex for the main Sandler audience to handle). Sandler is one of the smartest and richest stars in Hollywood. He has made a fortune producing low-cost, high-grossing vulgar comedies that appeal to the most prized moviegoing demographic, teen males. He chose not to get too far away from that audience, or himself, even in this darkly comic film about a comic movie star reevaluating his life in the face of death.

Sandler plays George Simmons, a Hollywood star not unlike himself, rich and famous, but not taken very seriously as an artist. The only woman he ever loved, Laura (Leslie Mann of “Knocked Up”) married another man, Clarke (Eric Bana of “Star Trek”). George learns from his doctor that he has a form of cancer, and his chances of survival are slim. George hires a young stand up comic, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen of “Pineapple Express”) to write jokes for him and the two become friends. In desperation, George also tries to win back Laura, with predictable results. Ira learns that although George is very successful, his life is a mess. George never really grew up emotionally, but he has learned some life lessons, which he tries to pass on to Ira. For one thing, George tells Ira that he won't get any girlfriends as long as his standup comedy act is limited to fart and penis jokes. Sandler and Apatow should have heeded this advice for this movie. They provide a steady diet of crude blue jokes. That gets old very fast, but then again maybe those are aimed at Sandler's primary audience.

There is enough effective comedy in this film for me to recommend it, but it does seem terribly limited, as do most Sandler and Apatow films. At some point, it would be nice to see either or both of them try a project more sophisticated, something more ambitious that tackles a larger cross section of the human experience. It doesn't have to be uplifting, so very few Hollywood films are. Something at least meaningful would be nice. Sure, both Apatow and Sandler have both hit on movie formulas that produce huge amounts of money, but I suspect that in their hearts and souls there may yet linger some of that same emptiness that haunts fictional Hollywood star George Simmons. This film rates a B. Both Apatow and Sandler are grown men who find themselves in a sort of adolescent neverland. Maybe they haven't outgrown it, or maybe they are sticking with it just because it is so profitable.

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