Thursday, July 24, 2014
SIGOURNEY WEAVER CHANGED WITH THAT WIG: A nice retelling of the making of Galaxy Quest (as one AV Club commenter put it, it's "a behind the scenes look at a film that was a behind the scenes look at a television show"), which again raises a question I've asked before: as good as it was, wouldn't it have been better with originally-cast Alec Baldwin (or Kevin Kline) in the lead role?
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Nope. Look, they're both good actors (and in Kline's case, great), but I sincerely think it works better with an actor who's more TV-cheese level. (Also, not as beefy as Baldwin; I think the lead works better with someone kind of in shape but not buff.) So yes, this is the one time in the history of mankind that Tim Allen was the right choice.
ReplyDeleteNo. I'm with Mr Finn here. Tim Allen was clearly the right guy.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting question--part of what makes it work is that Allen plays the part with minimal winking/in on the joke-ness. i'm not sure that Kline, Baldwin, or Martin would have made that choice.
ReplyDeleteAllen was doing Shatner without really realizing he was doing Shatner, if you see what I mean. I'm sorry to insult Tim Allen, but Kevin Kline has too much innate intelligence that shines through. Tim Allen is believable as a not very shrewd man.
ReplyDeleteI mean, even when Kline is playing a complete idiot in A Fish Called Wanda, we, the viewers, can kind of tell that it's a very smart man playing a stupid one with delusions of intelligence.
P.S. If anyone needs me in the next few minutes, I'll be dangling headfirst out a window.
I don't know why, exactly, but this distinction reminds me of an exchange from ALMOST FAMOUS:
ReplyDeleteLester Bangs: The Doors? Jim Morrison? He's a drunken buffoon posing as a poet.
Alice Wisdom: I like The Doors.
Lester Bangs: Give me The Guess Who. They got the courage to be drunken buffoons, which makes them poetic.
That is an excellent point.
ReplyDeleteI mean, they're actually pretty similar dudes, I guess. I suspect Buzz Lightyear is what got his name in the mix for Galaxy Quest.
ReplyDeleteI think you have the problem just right. You need a guy who's a bit buffonish. A younger Craig T Nelson could have worked, too, but Kevin Kline is way too smart. (And I like Tim Allen as a general matter, even outside of GQ and Toy Story). Kline could have done Dr Lazarus, but not CMDR Taggart
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