Wednesday, June 8, 2005

HEY, IT'S THAT DORKY, BUT LOVABLE GUY! He's not a character actor in the vein of true H!ITG's like Bob Balaban and Phillip Baker Hall, but I think this generation has its first H!ITG! in Justin Long. Long specializes in the "dorky but lovable guy who is pining after the hot girl, and..." character. Witness his filmography:
  • "Galaxy Quest"--OK, there's no love interest in this one (except for, arguably, Long's character's lust for Sigourney Weaver), but this begins the "lovable dork" character.
  • "Ed"--Long's Warren Cheswick is a dorky but lovable guy who pines first after teacher Carol Vesey and then class fox Jessica Martel, but ultimately realizes that he's in love with his best female friend, Diane Snyder.
  • "Crossroads"--Long plays Henry, Britney Spears' dorky but lovable lab partner who's deeply in love with her, but who is let down easy when she realizes she's not in love with him.
  • "Dodgeball"--Long plays Justin, a guy whose goal in life is to become a cheerleader so he can win the love the head cheerleader. Ultimately, after being hit in the head with a red rubber ball repeatedly, Long's character gets the girl.
  • "Herbie: Fully Loaded"--Long apparently plays the dorky "boy next door" in love with Lindsay Lohan. Mind you, you couldn't pay me to see this, but I'm going to bet that this will ultimately lead to dork getting girl.

Long's great in the roles, often being better than the movie--but is a guy with almost no apparent range--it's dorky hangdog or nothing for him.

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