In its second weekend Funny People, Judd Apatow’s character study-comedy, saw a 68% drop in its ticket sales. Coming in at just over $40 million after 10 days, it is almost certainly a financial failure at the box office. However, I think this will be more of a DVD movie, and will find itself more appreciated in that form.

I talk about this because many critics are using this financial failure to justify their opinions on the film. I perfectly understand points a few critics have with the film, whether it be its running time or the fact that it meanders a lot in its last half, but to me, it is well worth it for what Apatow was trying to say. The one thing you have to agree with the film is that Apatow took a chance and went away from his comfort zone and tried to challenge not only his audience, but himself and for that he deserves credit.

When critics decry filmmakers from taking chances and try to prove that point by citing box office figures, you are jeopardizing the state of film. Everyday of the week I will take directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and the Coen Brothers, and to a slightly lesser extent directors like Apatow and Kevin Smith, who take chances and could give a flying fuck about commercial success rather than people like Brett Ratner and Michael Bay who are the definition of “commercial” and even a great like Steven Spielberg who spit on a lot of his credibility with Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Sorry, diatribe over.