This video is hilariously funny, but what got me going was the advice given by John C. Reily to both Jack black & Will Ferrell. Reily has always been an actor who has mixed things up, with movies like "Boogie Nights", " We need to talk about Kevin", "Carnage", etc along with most of his hilariously funny movies. But there are some other actors who do more work in a particular genre with very few or no movie in a different genre. This post is dedicated to actors who have done more movies in humor/comedy genre & are known for that. Most of the actors mentioned have come through either stand up comic acts or television performances in comic roles.
I have loved watching Rahul Dravid hit out at 20-20, or seeing Brain Lara try to defend out of a bad situation, or reading a humorless philosophical book by Scott Adams, etc. On the similar lines when actors who are known for their comic timing or slapstick & goofy movies, act in serious movies & kick-ass while they are at it, it just increase the amazing-ness of the viewing experience. Now all those movies may not be completely devoid of humor, but the role which these actor would play would be different from the characters they usually perform & hence much more challenging. And there are quite a few actors who have done this with ease & came out with flying colors as far as the end result is concerned.
One of the examples would Jack Black playing lead role in "Bernie", would not consider his small role in "Enemy of the states" here & would also not talk about the "King-kong" because its a shitty movie (its beyond me that the movie has a 7+ rating on IMDB). Rather his character in the movie 'Bernie' is what I would consider as an example of getting out of comfort zone. Movie revolves around the lead character Bernie, played by Jack Black, who is the Assistant Funeral Director (mortician) & a do-gooder with a multifaceted personality. He is someone who is involved in all the social activities of the town & everyone loves him. The real life based plot revolves around a rich widow who everyone in the town hates but bernie shows her sympathy. This leads to a point where the widow starts to take advantage of goodness shown by bernie & make his life hell. What measure bernie takes to get his life back on track is the main point of the movie around which the plot revolves. Though the movie has plenty of humor, but since it is based on a real life character JB had to give a much restrained performance, compared to his usual quirky roles filled with buffoonery, which I will be honest to accept is fun to watch. Have been a fan since watching "School of Rock" long back but it is movies like "Bernie" which shows viewers a versatile side of Jack black.
Another example would be Adam Sandler & his role in "Funny people". Now adam sandler is someone who strictly follow the rule of doing spoofy, slapstick comedies many of which I have enjoyed but at times his movies are a little too much to take. But once in a while he does a movie like "Funny People", okie I will change that to once in his lifetime he does a movie which makes you realise his potential as an actor. 'Funny People' has adam sandler in lead role supported by Seth rogen, who is another actor with great comic timing. The movie is about a Comic genius, portrayed by Adam Sandler, who comes to know that he is suffering from an acute version of Leukemia, starts to get insecure & realizes what his life lacks. From being a succesful movie actor, he decides to get back to his roots i.e. Stand up comedy & tries to get in touch with his ex-fiancee to apologies for his mistakes in the past. Its a beautiful movie with awesome performances from Seth rogen, Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann & other supporting cast, but Adam sandler takes the cake by giving a amazing performance as a star who knows that he his dying & is insecure about his existence. Another good watch with Adam Sandler in serious role is "Reign over me", where he plays a bereaved father & husband who lost his family in 9/11 twin tower attack. In this movie also Sandler rocks with his portrayal of a guy who does not want to accept the reality & ends up distancing himself from the world, movie also stars Jamie Foxx but Adam Sandler is the one in the limelight throughout.
Steve Carell is another actor who I find to be insanely funny, movies like "Dinner with shmucks" notwithstanding. He keeps trying out different types of roles, but in serious domain the right examples would be movies like "Dan in real life" & "Seeking a friend for the end of the world". Now both the movies are really nice & they work due to honest performance from Steve Carell. Even though "Dan in real life" is a light drama with shade of comedy, SAFFEOTW is more of a serious romantic movie with an apocalyptic plot. I liked later more as the story is better, performance from steve carell is awesome & some help from Keira Knightley in terms of her brilliant acting didn't hurt. Carell portrays a romantic guy who has received a bit of a raw deal when in face of an certain apocalyptic event his wife just leaves him & run away. How he tries & gather his life back & find his 'true love' is what this movie is all about.
Jim Carrey, the god of all over the top comedies & in your face humor, has done some superlative comedy & some movies which are so goofy that you just cannot tolerate them. He is someone who would have covered the entire spectrum in the comedy movies, right from pure-slapstick movies like "Dumb & Dumber" & the ace ventura series to awesomely funny movies like "Liar Liar", "Me, Myself & Irene", etc. But he cracked it with movies like "Truman Show", "Yes man" & "I Love you phillip morris", where he plays a not so goofy character & the movies are really more of drama rather than a full fledged comedy. And the performances are just amazing in all these movies & they would, according to me, amongst some of the best work from Jim Carrey. But the movies which takes away the cake would be "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" & "The number 23", it does sound amazing that Jim carrey has done a serious Sci-fi & a thriller in his career. Will not talk much about "Eternal..." because everyone would have seen it. "The number 23" is the movie which is showcases the amount of versatility which this legendary actor has. The movie revolves around the character played by Jim carrey who is gifted a book by his wife, which talks about significance of number 23 & has loads of similarity with his own life. He becomes obsessed with number 23 & tries to find the author. In the process he also comes across a murder mystery which he tries to solve. Now the movie would have been a decent one if not for Jim Carrey giving an excellent performance, making it a great movie to watch.
Lastly, would like to mention Will Ferrell, who is insanely funny. I have lost count of the movies I have seen of him, but there is one movie which I love the most where Ferrell gives a serious performance in a role which has many shades & undertones, i.e. "Everything must go". He plays an alcoholic sales person, who loses his job & wife on the same day. He tries a lot to not let go of things, but harder he tries quicker they move away from him. He is getting sued by an associate & he is locked outside his house with his stuff thrown on the lawn. Finally the plot takes a turn for good when he decides to let everything go, as he plans a garage sale with the help of a local boy who he teaches the nuances of sales & life. There are couple of other interesting characters who delivers with their performances, making this an extremely enjoyable watch. Will ferrell delivers an amazing performance in a script backed role, where he tries something new & comes out kicking-ass. It is a highly recommended movie for everyone, irrespective of whether or not someone like Will Ferrell.
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