Ira Wright: I don't think I can hide that. My face is circumcised.

America is founded on such principles as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, right? Well, you just got to be careful that you don’t abuse your liberty and that your pursuit of happiness doesn’t affect your life. For George Simmons (Adam Sandler), fame and fortune took him to a world where he lived friendless, detached, and lonely. He pursued his happiness and became a larger than life superstar but it resulted in his alienation from life. His recent diagnosis was the wake up call for him to realize just how empty his life really was. Fame, fortune, and possessions will not make you happy in the long run because they are unfulfilling. This dramatic turn of events is even more dramatic when dealing with a person who spent his life making people laugh. It is painful to see a depressed comedian. It just doesn’t go, it doesn’t match, it’s just not right. The involvement of his new assistant and co-writer, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), in his life helped bring things into perspective. A struggling rookie comedian himself, Ira gets the chance of a lifetime by tagging along with George and getting an inside view of the life of a superstar as well as a view of George Simmons the man. The lives of funny people are sometimes not that funny.

The story that this movie lays out is really pretty simple and actually one of the weaker aspects. It is somewhat predictable and the movie itself is too long. At just about two and a half hours, I feel that it is half hour more than what it needs to be for this kind of subject matter. Even though the story is simple, the concept on the other hand is unique so that’s a plus. The strongest aspects of this film are the awesome script and cast. This alone could make the movie worth watching for many of you. The script is sharp, direct, smart, and very funny. The cast is a who’s who of veteran comics, recently popular comics, and up and coming comics. It’s like an All-Star game. There are a ton of cameos and they are superbly used. Priscilla kept shouting out “Look!” for many of them. I won’t give any names so as not to spoil the surprise but I will mention a nice little mini performance by James Taylor. Priscilla melts at the sound of his voice. Ira normally lives in his friend’s apartment, Mark (Jason Schwartzman). One interesting thing about Mark’s apartment is the various framed posters hanging throughout. Keep an eye out for them because they are very cool.

The performances by the cast are as you would expect, especially for Seth, Jonah, and Jason. I always thoroughly enjoy Leslie’s performances and this is no exception. She has the ability of putting a smile on my face just by being present on the screen. When she speaks, well, that’s just an added bonus. Judd Apatow couldn’t have picked a better wife for himself. And their kids, oh boy, the writing is on the wall for those two little darlings. Priscilla was most impressed by little Goldilocks, Iris. She’s a chip off her mom’s block. The oddball in the cast is Eric Bana. It is strange to see him in this kind of movie but he was well cast for the role and he nailed it. Now as far as the star of the show, Adam, well he was pretty good too. He was comical and sarcastic with some depth and drama as he faced some serious moments of reflection and self-evaluation. There is a fine line between life and death and its funny how people immediately audit their lives and put things in perspective when they get close to that line. Adam handles his character well showing decent range of emotion without over-acting. Overall the movie is good but not great, it will make you laugh out loud a few times, and the cast ensemble is quite special. Writer/Director Judd Apatow is a master of comedy and of bringing out the best of his comically talented cast. Although this is not one of his best works, in no way does it diminish his portfolio.