'Bruno,' 'Funny People' highlight summer comedies

[April 22, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- As much as tentpole action films dominate the summer, comedies, too, are a staple of the season.

In warm summer nights, waves of cackling have long floated out of multiplexes playing "Caddyshack," "There's Something About Mary" or "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

Judd Apatow recalls going with his summer camp to see Bill Murray in "Stripes" as "one of the great moments of my entire life."

"There are a lot of gigantic movies with budgets well over $100 million that come out during the summer," said Apatow. "There's a lot of excitement and spectacle. But I think people also enjoy something less intense and fun and funny."

Apatow has become a summertime regular, having directed "Knocked Up" and produced "Superbad" and "Stepbrothers" -- all of which, he notes, benefited from coming out late in the season when people were "a little burnt-out" by the blockbusters.

On July 31, he'll release "Funny People," starring Adam Sandler as a stand-up comedian who finds out he has a terminal disease. Seth Rogen co-stars.

"It's a human comedy," said Apatow. "It's about the normal struggles that people face in their lives. It's funny and relatable."

Apatow also produced "Year One" (June 19), which Harold Ramis ("Groundhog Dog," "Analyze That") directed. It stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as Roman Empire era wanderers with girl problems.

It's not the only time-traveling comedy this summer. In "Land of the Lost" (June 5), adapted from the campy '70s TV series, Will Ferrell plays a scientist who leads his team (including Danny McBride) through a time warp and into an alternate dimension where dinosaurs (among other things) exist.

Then, there's yet another alter ego of Sacha Baron Cohen's.

On July 10, he returns with "Bruno," the lone film this year with an umlaut that American moviegoers are likely to flock to.

"Bruno" is Cohen's follow-up to "Borat," which in 2006 earned more than $128 million at the domestic box office and caused a cultural stir. In "Bruno," Cohen again flings a character from his TV series "Da Ali G Show" into the real world, where director Larry Charles' cameras capture his interactions with seemingly unknowing citizens.

The culture clash of his gay Austrian fashion reporter might be even greater than that of his Kazakh journalist. Just as entertaining will be the sideshow of Cohen's in-character interviews and the possible ensuing lawsuits (which resulted after "Borat").

Coming June 5 with less fanfare and star wattage is "The Hangover," about a group of friends who find themselves trying to put the pieces together after a wild Las Vegas night. Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as a trio of groomsmen looking for their missing friend, it's a kind of "Dude, Where's My Buddy?"

"It sticks to a very simple detective format, almost like a mystery, like a Hardy Boys kind of thing," said Helms. "You're trying to figure out with the main characters exactly what happened."

Such summer comedies afford actors and comedians a chance to turn a small part or a cameo into a career breakthrough. (Remember McLovin?)

"The Hangover" is the first major movie role for Helms, who graduated from "The Daily Show" to "The Office" and now to more movies. This summer, he also has a part in "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" (Aug. 14) and makes an appearance in the cameo-stuffed sequel: "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (May 22).

"The Goods," which is produced by Ferrell and Adam McKay, stars Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames and James Brolin.

Other anticipated comedies this summer:

• "Extract," Sept. 4: The Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butt-Head," "Office Space") comedy stars Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman and Kristen Wiig.

• "Whatever Works," June 19: Woody Allen returned to New York to shoot this film, starring Larry David ("Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm").

• "The Boat That Rocked," Aug. 28: Richard Curtis ("Love Actually") directs this period comedy about a 1960s illegal radio station.

• "Dance Flick," May 22: The Wayans brothers satirize the recent slew of dance films like "Step Up."

[Associated Press; By JAKE COYLE]

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