Acquire, hire or fire? (Judd Apatow).

By Adam Ray Palmer
 
The golden oldie feature continues on Cineroom! Yes, it’s the revisit of the classic ‘Acquire, Hire of Fire’ feature – but this time with me!
 
How does it work I hear you ask? Well, if you Acquire a film, it means you love it. If you ‘Hire’ a film, it makes you like and would rent again; and of course, if you ‘Fire’ a film, you probably hate it.
 
I asked a reader to give me the topic this time, so here is the ‘Apatow’ edition…

So, this edition is simple, I asked a loyal Cineroom reader what the subject matter would be for the next A, H or F feature and they said Judd Apatow. I have been a fan of Judd’s for years, and with his latest release coming next month (The King of Staten Island), maybe this edition is apt-(atow) – sorry!
 
The conditions are: I can only choose from the movies he has directed. That massively brings down the list and lose classic such as The Cable Guy, Get Him to the Greek, Anchorman and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But hey, the show must go on – so let’s get into it…

HIRE:
My ‘hire’ choice was in fact the hardest one to choose. I always knew my ‘fire’ and ‘hire’ decisions but that left me with two hefty blows for a couple of movies in particular. Knocked Up and This Is 40 deserve their mentions because they are brilliant, however, they are just short of the hilarity of The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
 
This movie is a comedy classic. It has me in stitches every time I watch it, and that is at least twice a year! Steve Carell and all the impressive supporting cast have quips that will be etched in comic cinema history forever. It’s so quotable, it’s so loveable, and it’s so my ‘hire’ choice with no question.

FIRE:
I feel like I need to apologise here already. Look, I have nothing necessarily against Trainwreck, but it just isn’t my cup of tea. That might seem odd to say as Judd is at the helm, but I think difference in writing is clear. Amy Schumer is the star and writer of this movie, and I think the disparity in style of comedy just doesn’t hit the mark with me.
 
Don’t get me wrong, the film is by no means not appealing, it’s just that Apatow has such a good back catalogue. The cast for this movie is brilliant too with Bill Hader and Brie Larson on the bill, but it still doesn’t do enough to get out of the ‘fire’ category. Again, I am sorry.

ACQUIRE:
This needs no introduction, my ‘acquire’ movie just has to be Funny People. For me, this film has everything an exceptional, profound comedy needs. It has the obvious laughs throughout of course, but it has a lot more going for it than that. I think to dub Funny People solely as a comedy is probably a little harsh as it has heaps of emotion scattered throughout the complex and layered script.
 
In addition, Adam Sandler turns in one of his best career performances and has a supporting cast to die for in Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Eric Bana and Jason Schwartzman. The beauty though is in the way this movie is produced. It’s so original, in every way. The screenplay bounces along nicely but every now and then, an obstacle crops up. Apatow uses the hindrance to either highlight the sentiment in the writing or use it for a stellar comedic scene. I just think this is Judd’s most accomplished movie to date… and it’s already in my Blu-ray collection.

If you want to take part in an ‘Acquire, Hire of Fire’ in the future, let us know! It’s Cineroom’s most popular unpopular opinion feature! Drop a message to us on our socials or comment below!