Best 'SNL' alums - Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase circa 2008 is a punch line, a comedian with few job roles and a reputation for ostracizing his peers.
It wasn't always like that.
Just count up the hits. And I don't just mean commercial hits. I'm talking bona fide good movies. "Foul Play." "Seems Like Old Times." The first and third "Vacation" flicks. "Caddyshack." "Fletch." "Funny Farm."
He seemed freakishly comfortable in his own skin and offered up a comedic style all its own. Forget the signature pratfalls and watch both "Fletch" films again. Few stars can match that wonderfully glib vibe.
Sadly, Chase couldn't sustain his mass appeal, and for every hit he gave us he served up one or more stiffs ("Nothing But Trouble" stands as one of the 1990's worst films).
Still, for breaking out of the "SNL" pack first and doing it with many memorable films, he's an easy choice for this list.
posted by Toto @ 8:58 AM
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4 Comments:
thanks for including Funny Farm, vastly underrated ... "Not many people got a taste for testicles these days!"
Dear lord, look at his imdb credit list, what a load of bombs, clearly his best work was the 1980s, with only the "it grows on you" Vegas Vacation from there on. Even his voice over work is in crappy cartoons.
Tell us the true T! Hollywood Story, you alluded to alienating his coworkers, what happened? Why has he become this bomb factory?
Don't know the full story ... but EW ran a pretty comprehensive story a few years back about how alienating he was to his peers, and the "Live From New York" book - a thick one - that recounted those crazy years also had some solid Chase bashing.
To me, Chase always sees to be playing his role instead of "being his role". With all the pratfalls and humilations, I always got the impression that he was winking at us and saying "Hey, I'm not really a dope. I just play one in the movies." Hence he's never been that interesting to me as a comedic actor.
Can't say I disagree with you, Anonymous, but I think that was part of Chase's appeal to me -- how he hovered above the material and laughed along with us.
That said, I thought he gave real performances in both "Xmas Vacation" and "Funny Farm," the latter one of his unsung flicks.
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