There’s a long history of comedic actors — cinematic clowns, for lack of a better term — yearning to get serious.
It will be followed later this month by Netflix’s “True Story,” a limited series that features Kevin Hart in a not-huge-reach role — he plays a wildly successful comedian — who faces a serious crisis that includes his less-accomplished brother, portrayed by Wesley Snipes.
Based on a true story already turned into a podcast, “The Shrink Next Door” tells the strange tale of Marty Markowitz , who reluctantly agrees to see a psychiatrist, Rudd’s Dr.
“He just has no boundaries, and I don’t trust him,” Marty’s sister, played by Kathryn Hahn, warns Marty, but by then, he has essentially fallen under Ike’s spell.
Spanning decades, Ferrell bears little resemblance to the wacky characters with which he’s usually been associated.
Watching the series brought to mind those aforementioned examples, such as Murray starring in a 1984 remake of “The Razor’s Edge” to mixed reaction.
Yet those roles all came in movies, when such films could still hope to find a toehold at the theatrical box office.
Notably, “The Shrink Next Door” follows a dramatic movie that paired Ferrell with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, “Downhill,” which headed in precisely that direction commercially.
Indeed, half the battle for streaming services is simply getting noticed, and the Ferrell-Rudd pairing — with a timely assist from People magazine — is calculated to accomplish that.
“Yellowjackets” looked promising thanks to the casting and concept, but the Showtime series feels like a disappointment in terms of shaping its twin-track plot into an equally compelling drama.
Easy to shorthand as a sort of “Ladies of the Flies,” the show’s template appears to draw from the true story that gave rise to the 1993 movie “Alive,” about a boys rugby team that crashed in the Andes.
Still, as is true of too many shows operating in this sort of serialized vein, “Yellowjackets” doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get anywhere, and oscillating between the two time frames doesn’t help matters.
As noted, the mix of elements looked more enticing than the result.
Answers come in gauzy flashback images and via a series of violent encounters, but “Blade Runner” is more about the look than the substance, which only goes so far.
Sunday’s episode of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ caused a stir among fans when bank robber character Mickey was unexpectedly NOT voiced by comedian Bill Hader.
They ultimately chose to keep Bouchard’s voice as the character instead of finding someone who sounded like Hader, Bouchard said.
A day later, it seems the response had not died down, prompting another reply from Bouchard.