Funny yes, People no.

"Funny People" has a lot of negatives for me right off the bat. I'm not a big fan of Judd Apatow (sacrilege, I know). Stand up comedians are mostly the darkest, most depressing, most annoying, and most unhappy people I know. "Funny People" is all about them. It inhabits a world in which people make bad choices for unapologetically bad reasons and then avoid the consequences by making jokes about genitalia. I've seen this world first hand and I don't choose to visit very often. Add to this, my intense dislike of Adam Sandler as an actor, well, you get the picture.
That being said, there are things to appreciate here. If I had met Judd Apatow on the street and got a chance to talk to him about making movies I'd probably say "Hey, you know how to make funny movies for adolescents, why don't you make one for adults?", or something like that. Well, he kind of did that. "Funny People" tackles more adult issues than just getting laid (or should I say in addition to). Themes of loneliness and isolation are the same ones that pop up in "Up In the Air". A more serious slant and a good central performance by Seth Rogan make for interesting story telling. But man, the differences in what make people laugh are sometimes just enormous. What passes for funny with these characters and by extension these film makers is sometimes just painful to watch. An opening scene of Sandler as a young college student making prank phone calls is so juvenile that it took all my focus just to continue watching. The stand up was at best mediocre. A scene where a young girl sings "Memories" from "Cats" was fingernails on a chalkboard, the subplot involving Rogan's roommates, almost unwatchable (the girl was good), and Sandler as usual had the emotional depth of a sidewalk puddle. Rogan makes this watchable but he's not always on. Oh, and this movie is over-long by forty minutes.
If I ran into Apatow I'd say there was some good work here. Glad to see you've grown up as a filmmaker. Now grow up some more.