Comedians Just Wanna Have Angst
Comedians who make popular, funny movies always seem to reach a point where they want to do something with more depth. It is part of growing up and being an adult, even if their audience consists of teenage boys and twenty-something party dudes.
Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey and Chris Rock have all tried a change of pace the last few weeks. Sandler has the toughest transition to make. He is the ultimate “boys night out” star, a man who has done a lot of movies that make the female population recoil in horror, like Little Nicky, Anger Management and Happy Gilmore.
His sweet romantic comedies (The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates) have earned a wider audience, but in his first foray into serious art house-style filmmaking, Punch-Drunk Love, he bombed big time. Frankly, the flick made art house cinema look bad.
Reign Over Me is a much better step into adulthood, but the very nature of his core audience makes it an impossible sell. His fans don’t want to see him serious. Does he give a good performance in Reign Over Me? He’s okay, and better than okay in spots, but when he shares the screen with the tremendous Don Cheadle, your focus is on DC. That said, I would rather see Adam Sandler trying to do something that challenges him rather than making Click 2. And keep in mind that a certain other manic stand-up/TV star managed to become a movie star who is respected for his ability to do comedy and tragedy.
When you first saw Robin Williams in Mork And Mindy, did you ever think, now there’s an actor who will one day win an Academy Award? If you did, take over for Allison on Medium immediately.