Funny People (May 2009)

George Simmons is an extremely successful comedian and actor, having starred in a number of successful lowbrow comedy films. But he is also very self-absorbed, lonely and estranged from his family by choice. When he finds out that he suffers from a rare form of leukemia and his treatment has only an 8 percent chance of success, he falls into a depression where he finds solace watching old videos of his early stand-up and other work. It is then, he decides to go back to his roots and start performing standup comedy again.

Meanwhile, Ira Wright is an aspiring stand-up comedian who dreams of quitting his day job at a deli. He shares an apartment with roommates Leo Koenig, another aspiring comedian who has found more success than Ira, and Mark Taylor Jackson , an actor who has recently come into wealth and fame as the star of a lame NBA sitcom called Yo Teach! Ira has a crush on Daisy , a female comedian who lives nearby, but has been unable to act on it, and Mark gives him an ultimatum to act on it or else he will sleep with her.

In the morning, Clarke gives George a tearful goodbye, thinking he will die soon. Then, his daughters reveal that George is actually better, as Ira had told them earlier. Clarke then confronts Laura about this as he suspects she's cheating on him. Laura tries to explain that he may not be entirely better, but Clarke doesn't believe her. When Laura then calls him out on his infidelity, Clarke leaves the house. Laura tells George that she will meet with Clarke later to tell him to find a new place. Ira tells George that he thinks they should leave and that it's not worth it to break up a twelve-year marriage so that George will be happy, but George yells at him and threatens to fire him.
George ends up lonely again, while Ira goes back to his job at the deli and enters into a relationship with Daisy. Ira meets up with George again at a club and George watches Ira being much more confident on stage. The next day, George finds Ira working at the deli and asks to speak with him. George admits that even though he is no longer sick, his attitude still needs much improvement. George offers Ira some jokes he wrote down to help Ira's act, proving that he is making an attempt to become a better person.