A Couple of Comedies

Whether it is to escape the heat, seek shelter from the rain, or merely to battle boredom; I have been spending a lot of time in Ottawa theatres this summer. This past weekend, I indulged my addiction with two new flicks.

First on the silver screen was the newest installment of Judd Apatow’s awkward hilarity: Funny People. The film was not at all what I was expecting. It was like going into a candy store and randomly finding a guns and ammo section of the store. I went in ready for non-stop laughs, similar to Apatow’s previous films, but was instead treated to the fully loaded emo aspects of the comedy business. Apparently, when the laughter ends you’re left with some pretty twisted comics. The dramedy brought back the demure Sandler from Spanglish and gave us the skinny on Seth Rogen’s more serious side. With all the comedic actors handling the darker material, Eric Bana really stepped into the comedic spotlight. It figures that in a movie filled with average looking comedic geniuses, the tall glass of Aussie hotness would steal the focus.

After coming out of the theatre, my eyes refused to readjust to outside light. To save my pupils from the harassment of the sun, I went to see another movie.

I’d been looking forward to 500 Days of Summer ever since I first saw its apple trailer way back in May. This movie doesn’t follow the classic chick flick mold. There is no freakishly beautiful man or life revolutionizing makeover involved and the ending is far from the clean cut wrap up that audiences have come to expect. The main character wasn’t the traditional self empowered woman, but instead a puppy dog faced young man of questionable ethnic origin. The narrator even starts off the movie by saying that though this is a story of boy meets girl, it is not a love story. Despite this disclaimer, I still expected the two main characters to cast off their differences and run to each other across a field of daisies. Then I remembered that it wasn’t a Bollywood film. The inventive first time director, Marc Webb, uses a hipster artsy approach to the romantic comedy. There are dance numbers, animated birds, split screen, narration, and so much more that make this movie truly a comedy about romance rather just your average ‘romantic comedy’.