It seems ‘Change’ was such a good slogan that for any political party, after any time in office, the general public wants more of it. On the other side of the Atlantic Obama and the democrats are facing up to an all American Ass-kicking in new elctions and on home turf, our Con-Lib coalition is facing a union lashing that could see people taking to the streets. If they can afford the travel costs to get to said streets.
But it’s not just governments that have a limited shelf life. Bread, milk, eggs, sex after marriage, and the reason you had to sit through a feeble attempt at Politics For Dummies and the basis of this article; Comedy actors.
After a glut of appalling films including Land Of The Lost, Step Brothers and Semi Pro, this weekend sees the return of Will Ferrell to the big screen with, The Other Guys. He’s hoping that his schtick is worth one more trip on the comedy rollercoaster.
Regardless of whether or not you think Mr. Ferrell’s brand of child-like naiveté, coupled with ass hole tendencies is a well of comedy gold, it’s clear to see his stock is plummeting. In 2003/04 he was the Midas of the ROFLing world, making Elf one of the greatest Christmas films of this century and imbuing Anchorman with the kind of hilarity that spawned a thousand (now with hindsight) unfunny T-shirts. But like comedy Kingpins before him something clicked in the audiences head and the laughter dried up.
A perfect case study is Mike Myers. In the late 90′s everything Myers did was greeted with hoots, chortles and guffaws. A British Spy with bad teeth and shit 60′s catchphrases was in danger of eclipsing the long awaited Star Wars prequel. Cut to 7 years later and The Love Guru, the same man is doing the same thing to universal critical derision and worldwide audience apathy.
To Mike Myers add Chevy Chase, to Chase add Eddie Murphy, to Murphy add Steve Martin. In the comedy world the King does not stay the King.
There is an alternative, get dramatic, also known as, The Bill Murray route. With Stranger Than Fiction, Ferrell laid a claim to being a ‘real actor’ putting in his most accomplished performance to date, but this move only emboldened the falsehood that comedy acting isn’t real acting. It is, it just requires a change up. Whether or not the audience will follow nobody can really say.
Being past you sell by date in the movie world is nothing new (just ask any actress over the age of 50 that isn’t a Dame) but with comedy in particular, audiences are merciless. One argument would be that actors are now so aware of this, they take the money and run where ever it may be, shortening their already decreasing life span (Jack Black, Gulliver’s Travels and the recent Orange Adverts we’re looking at you). Does this over exposure lead to a quicker fame death? Or is the fact that comedy itself thrives on freshness the reason these photocopy products get so wearisome?
When incredibly the only real exception to this trend is Adam Sandler (regardless of what naysayers say nayingly the guy consistently makes movies that people want to see), the rule seems to fit. Funny is Finite.
Good point well made. If something is funny because it’s true (thanks, Homer J), then it follows that a constant repetition of something that had previously been true, is not funny.
Jim Carrey’s another example of this – arguably better in his straight roles than the comedic ones, but still manages to maintain his popularity. I still want to see I love you, Philip Morris. x
Comment by Sooz — September 17, 2010 @ 9:41 am
Nice article, and don’t forget Ben Stiller, who has become more and more mainstream and less funny since the highs of mystery men and Dodgeball. Yet another to add to the list.
Having said all that, watched The Other Guys this week and Ferrell’s pretty funny in that, as more surprisingly is Wahlberg. It’s worth the entrance fee for the Shark/Tuna fish scene alone.
Comment by Dan — September 25, 2010 @ 9:43 am