Discuss: Kevin James
Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and Controversy
The other night I was sitting on my friend's couch, and while watching some television, an advertisement for Paul Blart: Mall Cop popped up. It was a bit painful to watch. (Well, really painful, but I was pitifully attempting to be nice.) However, rather than evoking a "that's not my thing" reaction, or a rant about the deterioration of Hollywood, it was like watching that earnest and untalented kid at the talent show who is trying their hardest, but just not getting a good reaction from the audience. You feel for them, but know that it's a lost cause. As Kevin James' Paul Blart hunched down and weaved through the queue ropes, my friend said that he had nothing against James, but that the "funny" guy's roles were awful. This came from a guy who enjoys chastising the foibles of Hollywood -- the one who doesn't pull any punches.
That led me to think: What is it about Kevin James that comes off as entirely inoffensive, even when his work looks downright terrible? From what I've seen, he doesn't evoke the same vehemence saved for the likes of modern-day Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, or other comedians making questionable cinematic moves.
Is it because he didn't have a solid start to build love and fandom, so less disappointed vehemence bubbles out? The same could be said about Dane Cook, but I think his naysayers come much more from a place of a rebellion against Cook's fandom. Is his earnestness that palpable that we just can't bring ourselves to rip him apart? Do we expect that little of him?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-15-2009 @ 4:34PM
Mike said...
For one thing, he's not in that many movies, to my knowledge. So crap less often is less crap to hate on.
Personally, I'm indifferent toward the guy. He seems like a nice enough fella from what I've seen of him on Dinner for Five, but I had no desire to watch his show, just as I have no desire to watch any of his movies. I'd imagine he may be better suited for supporting roles than being asked to carry an entire movie.
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1-15-2009 @ 4:45PM
Ralph said...
While I'm a self-proclaimed "movie snob" and haven't cared for the movies Kevin James has been in so far, I must admit I loved 'King of Queens' and found him to be quite funny in it (although Jerry Stiller typically stole every scene he was in)...
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1-15-2009 @ 5:29PM
Kevin said...
Kevin James was never really promoted as hard as Cook (and James is actually funny) and he's never had the success that Murphy or Sandler had. He's had nowhere to fall.
James is on the Rob Schneider/Steve Zahn level IMO. If he churns out five years of Mall Cop, he'll be mocked. Or he could save himself like Zahn does by tossing in a good performance once or twice every five years. That seems to keep people from trashing him for the countless crappy movies he's made.
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1-16-2009 @ 12:21AM
Stephen said...
Funny you should mention Adam Sandler, as it looks like a lot of the films Kevin has been in are Happy Madison Productions. My guess is he is in Sandler's pool of go to guys (e.g., Rob Schneider, Allen Covert, Peter Dante, etc.).
I wouldn't say we think that little of him but, based on his track record, I think we have low expectations. As for not ripping him apart, he seems like a relatively good guy who hasn't been shoved down our throats.
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1-16-2009 @ 9:41AM
Kevin said...
IMHO the reason why he doesn't get the backlash of some of those other guys is that he hasn't spent years making offensive movies, tv shows, or stand ups. His one movie that definitely followed the offensive pattern (Chuck and Larry) was seen as an Adam Sandler movie, so the majority of vitriol was directed his way. But for the most part I think that Kevin James comes off as a nice guy who tries to hard in his movies to do physical humor. His movies might stink, but they don't feel like assaults on our sensibilities. Having said all that, I may be a little biased, because the first time I heard of this guy was when I saw his stand up Don't Sweat the Small Stuff on comedy central, and I thought it was pretty damn funny. So I'm rooting for him, but that becomes more and more difficult with the quality of product he keeps pumping out.
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1-17-2009 @ 5:42AM
joits said...
i thought the trailer was pretty funny actually and so did some other people when it popped up during the lakers/celtics game over christmas. it got a pretty decent laugh. i think we all know what kind of movie it is but i do find kevin james pretty funny.
he also had the funnier and better storyline in "hitch".
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