When I first heard about Judd Apatow’s latest movie, Funny People, I cringed. The movie poster didn’t help any.  This one is billed as his “serious” movie, the one with ambition, Annie Hall as told by James L. Brooks. But I figured that I enjoyed the 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up–not to mention the terrific, short-lived TV show Freaks and Geeks–enough to give it a shot.

Apatow’s third movie has more in common with Brooks than Allen but in the best possible way because Apatow likes people and isn’t afraid to show it. He has great affection for his characters and his movies are unashamedly earnest. (He’s anti-snark.) This is Apatow’s defining quality as a filmmaker. His movies are filled with small surprises, the interplay between the actors (he loves his actors). Funny People is too long but I didn’t mind the meandering pace. It lags in spots. Some of the story is hard to believe. The women don’t have great parts. Apatow has the tendency to simplify complicated relationships and the characters often come across as thin. There is something facile about his world view at times–things work out in his movies in a way that feels too neat.

But still, there is an emotional directness in Funny People, a movie that seems more autobiographical and personal than Apatow’s first two movies, that is winning. Leslie Mann, the director’s wife in real-life, has an under-written role, but does the most with it, with great comic timing.

I think Seth Rogan is miscast in the role of Adam Sandler’s protoge–he is limited as an actor–but far from terrible because he has such a warm presence. And I don’t think that Sandler has the depth to hit the emotional high-notes–he tightens-up, and is flat when he’s asked to bare his soul to Mann–but he too is far from terrible. Often, especially when he’s with Rogan, he nails the character, which is loosely based on his own life.

But this movie is about Apatow, not Sandler, and Sandler doesn’t have the winking self-satire chops of Jack Nicholson in his prime–it doesn’t feel as if he’s revealing anything of himself through this character.  (His character is a stand-in for Apatow and in many ways, the movie feels like a loving apology to his wife and kids for being a filmmaker–aka a selfish bastard.)

But Sandler is watchable. The whole movie is. It is flawed and has its limitations but it is like good comfort food: designed to make you feel good (especially if you like dick jokes). It is the best-looking Apatow movie; the editing is crisp. There are a few too many self-aware music sequences but that’s easy to forgive. Oh, yeah, and it’s funny. The most effective stuff in the movie may be the side-plot with Rogan and his self-involved roommates, played by Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman. And Eric Bana is terrific in a small role.

Apatow’s movies are about how American men don’t want to grow up. He is not edgy; he believes in happy endings. He’s a sap really, but too knowing to be sappy. He is a moralist and his characters are trying to do the right thing. If they treat each other badly they usually feel cruddy about it and apologize. Are happy comedians fun to watch? Not for everyone and I can see why this movie has drawn such strong reactions, pro and con. But is it the worst thing in the world to watch to see people want to treat each other well and live happily ever after?

Not if they are still funny.