Lewis Black is a very funny man.
I have seen him on The Daily Show. I have seen him perform stand-up. He is a very, very funny man.
So why does he star in such unfunny movies?
I submit:
Unaccompanied Minors (it hasn’t come out yet, but watch this and tell me it’s going to be half as funny as one “Back in Black” segment)
This is an old problem. Chris Rock has it. With the exception of Wayne’s World, Dana Carvey has it. But what I wonder is what causes it. Is it a question of certain types of humor not translating well into narrative features, or is it bad script choices (which doesn’t make sense in Rock’s case because he wrote half the bad movies he’s been in)?
Point of fact: while Dana Carvey has made more than his fair share of movies that could be considered crimes against man and nature, he WAS in “This is Spinal Tap”, albeit for a few scant moments.
I know that Lewis Black has an active disdain for Hollywood – it’s evident on the Off White Album, where he riffs on CBS’s attempt to turn his stand-up into a sitcom. (“Unbeknownst to me, there was a BETTER ME!”) And as a playwright at heart, it must kill him inside to work from these scripts. But at the same time, I imagine he takes these roles so that he can continue to tour and work TDS and remain financially sound. (He probably makes more for one movie than he makes all year at TDS for his 5 minutes a week.) And from a practical standpoint, you can’t fault him.
As for Chris Rock…I’m kinda ashamed to say that I sort of enjoyed “Head of State”, but it’s SO steeped in late-90′s politics that it won’t hold up even 5 years later. But I thought he was quite good in “Dogma”; I haven’t seen “New Jack City”, but from what I remember, that was his ‘breakout’ role; and there’s always his short-but-memorable turn in “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”. Other than that, tho…I dunno. He should probably stick to this rule of thumb: If anyone involved in the project was a castmate of his on SNL, or if he’s producing or writing, he shouldn’t be in the movie.
I wonder if some of it has to do with the type of comedian. I think to go far in stand-up you have to have a distinctive personality, and this doesn’t fit well with most good movies which require a more subtle performance. Chris Rock, Lewis Black, and Dana Carvey are all stand-up comedians who have very “personality-centric” routines. With the exception of Carvey in Wayne’s World (and I haven’t seen “New Jack City”) they always play themselves in movies. If you’re going to do that, I think you can only star in movies or TV shows involving a “you” type (e.g., Seinfeld, Ray Romano), and that really limits the script potential. Or, a select few stand-ups start out playing “you” type characters and then branch out (Robin Willams, Adam Sandler) etc. My biggest issue with Chris Rock, even on SNL, is that he always seems to be thinking, “Hey, look! I’m on camera!” I have the same problem with Martin Short and Tracey Ullman. I don’t think that goes over well on the movie screen, so you either tone it down like Robin Williams and Adam Sandler did (thinking “Punch Drunk Love,” “Wedding Singer”) of you stick with crappy-ass broad comedies that can have an over-the-top character. I would put other stand-ups like Dane Cook and Dave Chapelle in the list of people who show more of a range of personality on the stand-up stage, and therefore have better chances on the big screen.