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The Best of Paul Rudd
Posted: Jan 29, 2008 in Movies
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One of the most underrated actors in the business, Paul Rudd is one of those guys who you have definitely seen in something, but you might not even know his name.
Among his TV work, he's probably best known as Mike, Phoebe's husband in the later years of "Friends," but his film work is bringing him an increasing amount of notoriety and well-deserved attention. He's done a good mix of indies and bigger-budget films (mostly romantic comedies), but he combined the two as one of the key players in the recent Judd Apatow films.
His new movie is "Over Her Dead Body," where he plays a man whose dead girlfriend's ghost (played by Eva Longoria Parker of "Desperate Housewives") tries to keep him from having new relationships.
Here are Rudd's Top 5 performances:
5) The Oh in Ohio: Rudd is great as Jack Chase, the husband of Parker Posey's frigid Priscilla, who has never reached the heights of physical love. He's vulnerable and funny, and a key to this underrated film.
4) The 40-Year-Old Virgin: Rudd plays David, the most sensitive of Andy's (Steve Carell) friends, who is emotionally scarred and obsessed with his ex-girlfriend (played by Mindy Kaling of "The Office").
3) Clueless: As Alicia Silverstone's ex-step-brother, Rudd is the voice of college-boy reason in a world of vapid fashion and shallowness. And he manages to make the ending, where he and Cher fall in love, a little less creepy than it could have been.
2) Knocked Up: As Pete, he's again the voice of maturity, having been where main characters Ben (Seth Rogen) and Alison (Katherine Heigl) are going. He provides several of the film's best moments, including the sequence where his wife, expecting to catch him cheating on her, is even more horrified to discover he's surreptitiously joined a fantasy baseball league.
1) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy: his Brian Fantana is one of the most memorable characters, comedic or serious, of the last 5 years, from his cheeseball muttonchop sideburns and bushy mustache to his fragrance of choice, "Sex Panther," and his unique nickname for his genitals.
Thank you Joe for recognizing this man, have been a fan of his for years now and he blew me away in Knocked up.
Glad you didn't mention The Ten, which was just horrible.
I just watched The Ten this past weekend. I'm wandering through the aisles at Blockbuster with a movie to exchange and I'm thinking: this movie has so many actors I've enjoyed in other films, surely it can't be that bad, right?
Wow. The bar has been raised for bad films. Of course, I haven't seen Meet The Spartans yet. I'm sure it will set yet another milestone in crapamatography.
Other than The Ten - I agree that Paul Rudd's presence in any film is a mark of watchability. He's a hilarious supporting actor.
Another bad one he did was "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers." I'd call it the second worst of the series (after Halloween 5...I'll say third worst if you want to count the Myers-less Halloween III as part of the series).
Anyway, it was funny seeing him try to act spooky as the grown-up Tommy Doyle (the little boy from the first "Halloween"). He did get to drop the climactic beat-down on Michael Myers, though.
Sorry to resurrect an old post, but I can't help but comment on a movie I saw this weekend: I Could Never Be Your Woman (http://imdb.com/title/tt0466839/), starring Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer. This film must be placed in the list of Great Paul Rudd Movies! The writing really features the hilarity he provides for supporting-actor roles, but featured as a main character.
Other good news: Michelle Pfeiffer is still a hottie, her daughter is hilarious, and Jon Lovitz is great as usual.
Only bad news: Tracey Ullman does this Mother Nature bit throughout the film. It wears on you, in a way that only campy romantic comedies can do. I almost didn't get past the first five minutes of the film because of this shtick. Press on, the film is worth it!
Overall recommended with high marks!
Sorry to resurrect an old post, but I can't help but comment on a movie ...
I read a thing in Entertainment Weekly about that movie. I guess it went through a bunch of issues with financing and it never got the theatrical release it was supposed to. Very interesting, and I'll have to check it out!