BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
DISCLAIMER: I know what you’re thinking. “Dude, really? You’re really including Evan Almighty?” I’m sure we’ll all agree it’s not as funny as “Bruce Almighty”, but this movie is not without its charm. What we’re working with here is a list of movies in which Steve Carell had the lead role. So this means no “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Anchorman”, or “Bruce Almighty”. And while we’re at it, no animated films and that includes his new hit “Despicable Me”. So really, with those strict guidelines there are not as many choices yet to go with other than “Dan In Real Life”, and who’d want to talk about that movie. More Carell movies keep coming so let’s be patient and enjoy the ride.
(FOUR) EVAN ALMIGHTY
This 2007 sequel to the 2003 hit “Bruce Almighty” is often forgotten by many Carell fans. It’s not a bad movie at all, but then again not many movies with Morgan Freeman are. The first movie is a Jim Carrey classic, but this lead jumping sequel didn’t quite make as big of a splash. This movie hasn’t even made its money back yet. A few different sources claim it’s made over a gulping $173 Million dollars. In most cases that’s a pretty huge box office success but that’s not the case for THIS movie. THIS movie had a budget of TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. The biggest budget a comedy movie has ever had. This isn’t one of those movies that you MUST own on DVD. It’s a movie that you catch on basic cable on a Sunday afternoon. You start watching it, you enjoy it, and before you know it’s time for dinner and you’re still in your pajamas. (Tip: Call it your “lounge wear”. It’s classier.)
(THREE) GET SMART
I think people sleep on this one. I know a lot of people brush it off as another “old TV show turned movie” situation, but it takes on a life of its own. It’s nothing that’s going to really teach you a lesson at the end of the day, but its 100 minutes of fun. Sadly, it’s 110 minutes. Carell stars as the iconic role of Maxwell Smart and does an awesome job with it. His physical comedy in the movie is shades of Steve Martin. Anne Hathaway costars and provides an impressive amount of laughs and looks great in the process as Agent 99. It’s just a silly spy parody. A lot of movies like this seem to always insult the viewers’ intelligence and rely on crappy jokes to make time pass. Steve Carell carries the movie on his back and gives it some class and respectability. The movie has made over $230 Million dollars and was a huge box office success, but it STILL feels like its being slept on. How does that work? Maybe we’ll find out when the sequel comes out next year in 2011.
(TWO) DATE NIGHT
Another fun movie. This time we have Steve Carell and Tina Fey playing a bored married couple who embark on one crazy night in their harmless attempt to get away for one night. The cameos and supporting roles in this one are a who’s who in randomness. We get Mark Ruffalo being married to Kristen Wiig, James Franco and Mila Kunis as a trashy criminal couple, Common and Jimmi Simpsons as shady cops, Taraji P. Henson as a good cop, Mark Wahlberg as a bad ass security and defense expert, and the man himself J.B. Smoove as one of the funniest taxi drivers since DeNiro’s take on the job. Yeah, that’s a lot of people but each of them does their parts well in making this story that much funnier and that much more chaotic. The chemistry between Carell and Fey is awesome in the movie and they play off each other very nicely. Some say certain parts didn’t pay off enough, but I like it for what it is. I went into it with low expectations of a cheese and smile PG movie and came out of it very surprised and well entertained. You can’t ask for much for than that.
(ONE) THE 40-YEAR-OLD-VIRGIN
He was always great in the smaller and bit parts. His lines in “Bruce Almighy” and “Anchorman” rival stars Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell in people’s hearts and memory. How does one turn a very dependable supporting role career in a very dependable starring role career? He makes a movie about being a 40 year old man child who’s never gotten laid. It’s vulgar, perverted, and as R-Rated as a movie can get. But at the same time it displays a lot of heart, innocence, and fairly realistic tone on how guys act. Carell was the straight man by definition, but expanded the type into something much bigger and more open. The dude is just charming and has a great likeability thing going for him. This is where that opened everyone’s eyes, not just the slacker stoner types who were already fans of the movie. This Judd Apatow movie had a budget of $26 million and ended up making over $177 million. This movie will go down as a modern comedy classic and pretty much what put Steve Carell on the map. As much as I’ve enjoyed the years of work he’s put in on “The Office”, I can’t wait for this movie making this to be his day job.
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