There is a very short list of things that men hold sacred. Most of the things on the list make common (if not moral) sense: beer, ass, any rhyme with “Nantucket” in it, weed, and boobage of any kind. I once scored a personal best when I met a drunk young lass with a nice ass and incredible breasts who wanted to share some weed with me.

However, there is one item on the list that even we men do not understand, though we hold it as sacred as the love for our mothers: dick jokes. I know, I know! How crass. How base of me to give merit to humor so obvious and dull-witted as dick jokes. And how sadly correct I am, naysayers!

I think we have to admit that there is a strong possibility that Robin Williams’ family crest has a phallus on it. If ever George Carlin had a friend, was it not the lovable penis? Even Carlos Mencia was not averse to telling a humorous gem about the Ol’ Giggle Stick – and he steals his material! That means there is yet ANOTHER baby-maker enthusiast out there! I wish him luck in court.

Bearing all this in mind, I called my boys, The Legion of Shrooms, and we gathered together at my apartment for what we knew was going to be a very special night. At 7 p.m., we had tickets to see Funny People, and from what we could gather from the previews, this movie could actually have been called Dick Jokes.

Judd Apatow. Adam Sandler. Seth Rogan. Jews. These are the people who GAVE us dick jokes. We were fit to be tied. So it was, with tears in our eyes, we gathered to toast the universal appeal of the moisture missile. Breaking open a bag of mari-wannika, we jumped in my ’84 Skylark and giggled our way to the cinema.

I love watching movie trailers, and this time was no exception. The Legion and I laughed with glee at the coming attractions, and I wondered, not for the first time, what it is about the movies that brings out the child in us all.

After the trailers were over and we figured out we were sitting in the theater for Aliens in the Attic, we hightailed it to the correct cinema just as Funny People was starting. It’s funny how movie trailers can deceive you.

The movie has plenty of dick humor, and OH DADDY, does it deliver in that respect. However, the film also had something I was not expecting: depth.

This time out, Sandler is not just a goofy man-boy out to win the girl who is way out of his league. This time he is just a man – a famous comic – but just a man nonetheless. He is a comic who has sold his soul to Hollywood “Tim Allen-style” (some could argue “Sandler-style”). Busy making money instead of working on his craft, Sandler is happy making movies about being a baby with a man’s head until he is told he’s dying.

This movie is the equivalent of talking to Happy Gilmore after he has stepped from the screen, ordered a beer, and begun to talk to you about how unfunny it is trying to be funny. And I have to say that this is an Adam Sandler I would like to see more of.

After seeing this film, I walked out feeling like I know Sandler better than I actually do. What we see is a man struggling to beat his disease while examining where that fine line is that separates a comic genius from a fame-seeking hack.

Real-life comic genius Groucho Marx once remarked that because comics are laughed at, the average person does not realize how vital they are to their sanity. I have met many comics locally in Baton Rouge, and there is one truth that applies to all of them: There is not one who is well-adjusted and not dealing with some deep, personal pain.

So for those filmgoers who like some depth in their films, this is for you. But Funny People still delivers on the levels one expects.

While the film does examine the lives of the characters, it never wears out its welcome and becomes boring – the comedy keeps on coming. And after Sandler befriends up-and-coming comic Seth Rogan, the ride begins in earnest.

Hired by Sandler to write jokes for him, Rogan delivers what I think is the performance we have been waiting for in this film. Rogan has always made his “everyman” humor look so easy, and this part is no exception, except that we get to see Rogan deal with the complex issues of death and friendship in a more realistic way then ever before.

It was a different Legion who walked out to the theater parking lot. We were all feeling the glow you have after seeing a good film, but also mulling over some of the “big” issues you feel tugging at you when you have just viewed a “message” movie.

My best friend Colin had trouble putting the experience into words, but none of us could have done any better: “Wow, man. … Just … wow.”

“I know how you feel,” I said. I unlocked the ’Lark and we all got in, Colin and I in front. “It’s kinda cool when you get more than you paid for in a movie, huh?”

“Yeah,” said Colin. “Guess I knew those guys were gonna have to grow up someday.”

Colin and I locked eyes, digesting what he had just said. Was this some sort of sign?

Then I turned the ignition and was blasted by the opening riff to Ace Frehley’s “Rocket Ride” – KISS ALIVE II had been stuck in my tape deck for years now. Colin and I laughed as we sped from the lot. That had been close.