Funny People (Final Film Facts)

First, director Judd Apatow gave us "The 40-Year Old Virgin", a film that kicked off the career of Steve Carell, then there was "Knocked Up" that gave Seth Rogen his breakthrough role, both films comedic gems.

After those movies, Apatow directs Rogen and Adam Sandler in "Funny People."

In the film, Sandler plays George Simmons, a highly successful stand-up comedian and A-List movie star, who has been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and is given a year to live.

As Simmons struggles to put his life back together, he decides to get back on stage and continue his stand-up career.

While performing at same show, Sandler spots Ira Wright (Rogen), who is a struggling stand up and deli employee. Simmons impressed with Wright's performance decides to take him under his wing, to help in his last days solidify his comedic legacy, but when Simmons learns that his disease is in remission and an old flame returns (Leslie Mann), he is forced to reevaluate what matters the most in his life.

I was hoping that this film would be as on par as 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, but unfortunately It wasn't.

I will say Sandler, played one of the best performances, I've seen him play on screen, and the supporting cast was hilarious, including Rogen, Mann and Jonah Hill whose has starred in all three Apatow films.

A notable performance in the film was Eric Bana, whose playing Mann's Australian husband, delivers a strong performance in his first comedic role. Bana whose had quite the year in 2009, from performing in Funny People and Star Trek and in the upcoming film "The Time Traveler's Wife."

A notable scene to look for in the film, is when he meets his doctor, and makes fun of using Die Hard references, this scene will carry over later in the film, but it was hilarious.

But for the film, the story is a little rough to follow, near the end of the film, and again another film that has to go over 2 hours. The laughs were there, and I understand that Apatow chose to broaden his horizons by directing a more lighter comedy as opposed to the 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, but personally I think Apatow missed the mark with "Funny People."

Overall, I would recommend this movie, for those moviegoers who want to see a good tearjerker, but for fans of Judd Apatow you may be disappointed.

For the finale of the film facts, here are some more familiar actors and the actors who turned the roles down:

1. Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix trilogy: The role was offered to Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ewan McGregor. Smith also turned down the role of "Stu" played by Colin Ferrell in "Phone Booth."

2. Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf in The Lord of The Rings films: The role was offered to Sean Connery.

3. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector in "Silence of The Lambs": The role was offered to Gene Hackman.

4. Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling in "Silence of The Lambs": The role was offered to Michelle Pfeiffer.

5. Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker in "Bonnie and Clyde": The role was turned down by Jane Fonda.

6. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring": The role was offered to Daniel Day-Lewis.

7. Mike Myers as the voice of Shrek: The late Chris Farley was offered the role, in fact he recorded the dialogue before his untimely passing.

8. John Travolta as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction: The role was offered to Michael Madsen, due to the fact he played Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs, when Madsen refused the role the role was changed to Vincent.

9. Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back To The Future: Eric Stoltz was hired at first to play McFly and was later replaced by Fox.

10. Patrick Swayze as Sam Wheat in Ghost: The role was turned down by Bruce Willis.

11. Burt Reynolds as Jack Horner in Boogie Nights: The role was turned down by Warren Beatty, who also turned down James Caan's role in "Misery", Michael Douglas' role in "Wall Street "and Robert Redford's role in "The Sting."

12. Mark Wahlberg as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights: The role was turned down by Leonardo DiCaprio.

13. Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless: The role was turned down by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

14. Brad Pitt as Linus in the "Ocean's 11" trilogy: The role was turned down by Mark Wahlberg.

15. Mykelti Williamson as Bubba Gump in Forrest Gump: Before his death, according to his ex-wife, Tupac Shakur was auditioning for the role of Bubba Gump.

16. Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in "Ray.": The role was turned down by Denzel Washington.

17. Sharon Stone as Catherine Tremell in "Basic Instinct.": The role was turned down by Julia Roberts.

18. Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella in "Field of Dreams": The role was turned down by Tom Hanks, who had also turned the lead role in "Jerry Maguire" and the role of Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) in "The Shawshank Redemption."

19. Tom Cruise as Lestat in Interview with The Vampire: The role was at first turned down by Johnny Depp.

20. Johnny Depp as Donnie Brasco in Donnie Brasco: The role was first turned down by Tom Cruise who also turned down the lead role in "Footloose."

21. Kevin Costner as Robin Hood in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: The role was turned down by Mel Gibson who also turned down the lead role in Gladiator.

22. Harrison Ford as Richard Kimball in "The Fugitive": The role was first offered to Alec Baldwin, after Baldwin turned it down, the role was given to Harrison Ford.

23. David Carradine as Bill in "Kill Bill Vol. 1" and "Kill Bill Vol. 2": The role was originally offered to Kevin Costner, Costner turned it down and opted for directing "Open Range."

24. Linda Fiorentino as Bethany Sloane in "Dogma": The role was turned down by former "X-Files" star Gillian Anderson.

25. Judd Nelson as John Bender in The Breakfast Club: The role was originally offered to John Cusack, but when he was unable to fit into his schedule, Nelson got the role.