Steve Carell: Five Films for Newcomers
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Today is Steve Carell’s fifty ninth birthday. It’s crazy to think that he had a late start to his career, and was basically an overnight sensation in the early 2000’s, especially since he has dominated both film and television ever since. if I were to include The Office, that would obviously be the first place to start with the versatile thespian. However, I’m sticking strictly with film for this list, and it’ll be interesting to see just how much of his filmography we can squeeze into just five entires. Even still, I believe that there are fans of his that don’t get just how wide his scope of talent really is. With that in mind, I want to appeal to both his comedic strengths and his dramatic chops (of which are absolutely incredible, if you’re unaware). Here are five films for newcomers to the works of Steve Carell.
Again, you could just binge watch The Office, but here’s a list of five films nonetheless.
5. Little Miss Sunshine
Albeit a smaller part, Carell’s dramedy turn in Little Miss Sunshine was a more nuanced look at what he could do early on in his breakthrough years. After surviving a suicide attempt, Carell’s Frank views the world with bleak goggles, but his rediscovery of life is a gradual miracle to behold. It’s a more passive role for an actor who typically steals scenes, but because of how great Carell is at playing a listener, he ends up becoming the focal point anyway: a quiet, textured portrait of a hurt being in an unforgiving society.
4. Beautiful Boy
A performance that shouldn’t live under the radar is Carell’s work as author and father David Sheff in Beautiful Boy. Even in some of Carell’s more dramatic roles, there is a hint of charm or comedy (outside of another example you’ll find later). Not in Beautiful Boy, where Carell is as real as you can be. You can feel the internal struggle of a dad who is trying to help his teenage son with his sever addiction issues, but feels too abused and torn to know how to fully embrace him (after repetitive exploitation). It’s a depressing dichotomy that is to be seen to be believed.
3. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
You may find a number of comedic performances that will be missing on this list, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Date Night, and others. I wanted to try and get as many different sides of Carell as I could here. Besides, the funniest he’s ever been on film was his supporting role as Brick in Anchorman. This idiotic weatherman takes a stupid film (stupid in a good way, mind you) and makes it as void of intelligence as possible. It’s a hilarious rock bottom, whose ineptitude ends up being the punchline of almost every great moment (lest we forget his hand grenade). There are so many funny films that could be brought up, but I had to go with Anchorman. Besides, this role came ever so slightly before his big breakthrough, so it’s nice to see what Carell was like moments before his overtaking of Hollywood.
2. The Big Short
If I can pick just one role that combines Carell’s funniness and serious acting in one, it must be his work as investor Mark Baum in The Big Short. His abrasive behaviour is a riot, but you still feel like this is a real human being who just happens to be funny (and not a caricature). In the film’s more serious moments, Carell owns the picture, oftentimes as the face of realization of just how catastrophic the then-upcoming global financial crisis was going to be; he’s of a business world most of us can never be a part of, but his responses spoke for everyone.
1. Foxcatcher
Even though this isn’t Steve Carell performing within his usual comfort zones, I think one must start with Foxcatcher if they want to see just what he is capable of. Carell stars as multimillionaire John du Pont, who created Team Foxcatcher meant to train professional wrestlers for Olympic potential; he subsequently murdered coach Dave Schultz (brother of wrestler Mark Schultz). Carell is absolutely horrifying as John du Pont, with enough lifelessness to be eerie but just the teensiest amount of heart so you can feel his pain. Carell is so unrecognizable, and this capability extends far past the great makeup job on him. This is as chameleon-esque as Carell has been thus far, and it’s a must-see performance of his (and even in general). All of the funny and charming stuff can wait. Steve Carell at his most harrowing and unorthodox is where you must start (or get to next).
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.