Steve Carell refuses to be stuck in The Office when the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company closes for business.
Unlike his smarmy and ingratiating TV alter ego Michael Scott, Carell’s all work and no play.
With Dilberts everywhere in awe of his NBC sitcom, and The 40 Year-Old Virgin scoring big last summer, Carell’s quickly gone from self-mocking Daily Show correspondent to Hollywood’s newly crowned clown prince. And, just as good pal Will Ferrell did after Saturday Night Live, Carell’s developed workaholic-like tendencies as he capitalizes on the opportunities now before him.
How much does Universal believe that The 40 Year-Old Virgin wasn’t a fluke? Enough to promote Carell from Bruce Almighty scene-stealer to the lead of its sequel, Evan Almighty.
Want proof that Carell’s no longer Ferrell’s onscreen flunky? He replaces Ferrell as Agent 86 in Get Smart. And having already wooed Virgin‘s Catherine Keener, Carell will fall for Juliette Binoche in Dan in Real Life. Then he serves time for a crime he committed as a Juvenile.
* Through July 30
But first there’s Little Miss Sunshine.
This art-house National Lampoon’s Vacation finds Carell—vulnerable and bittersweet as a gay, suicidal academic—stuck in a rusty V.W. van with his sister’s dysfunctional family en route to a beauty pageant.
Little Miss Sunshine was never Carell’s to carry. It’s a dark, twisted ensemble effort that costars Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette and Alan Arkin. And filming began weeks before The 40 Year-Old Virgin popped his cherry.
Naturally, “the producers were thrilled” they had the next Carell comedy, Valerie Faris, who directed Little Miss Sunshine with her husband Jonathan Dayton, tells “The Bottom Line.”
“Our cast was great prior to The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” Dayton says. “There’s no denying it’s a different world a year later.”
It would be foolish to think Carell’s presence didn’t factor into the bidding war to distribute the $8 million road movie. Fox Searchlight prevailed at Sundance by paying a reported $10.5 million.
“The way I look at it, it’s not a movie with a big bankable movie star, like a Jim Carrey movie or an Adam Sandler movie,” Carell tells New York Magazine. “I’m just not in that kind of league.”
Maybe not, but Little Miss Sunshine—with Evan Almighty—will determine whether Carell can make a successful leap from the goggle box to the silver screen.
Luckily for Carell, Little Miss Sunshine earned $498,796 in its five days in limited release. But Fox Searchlight surely expects more from Little Miss Sunshine—which opens wider beginning Aug. 18—than its Thank You For Smoking, which cost a reported $6.5 million to purchase and earned $24.6 million. That said, it’s very much of an acquired taste, so don’t expect Carell to tread on Virgin territory this time out.
Regardless of its fate, Little Miss Sunshine proves Carell can pull off a serio-comedic role, something Ferrell’s yet to do.
“He’s committed to what role he does, whether it’s the dumbest weatherman or a news anchor,” Dayton says. “He’s just one of those smart comedians.”
And, given that he didn’t have time to make a cameo appearance in Ferrell’s Talladega Nights, one of the busiest.
The Bottom Line
Evan Almighty was shot around The Office. Just how long can Carell stay committed to the sitcom before it really interferes with his bid for movie stardom? “I don’t expect to continue to work,” Carell tells New York Magazine. Those certainly aren’t the words of a 42-year-old overnight sensation willing to give up a sure thing and make like David Caruso. That makes perfect sense—there’s no guarantee anyone wants a Jim Carrey-less Bruce Almighty sequel. So Carell should stay put as the boss we love to hate, at least until theatergoers decide whether he’s worthy of being in the same league as Carrey, Ferrell or and Adam Sandler.
