Justin Long, Not Annoying
Justin Long Done Much With Little In Dodgeball, Accepted, Die Hard
Jun 6, 2008
Artist Justin Long?
Actor Justin Long has made an art form out of taking roles that should by all logic be strained and unfunny and making them reach their comic potential.
Dodgeball
Justin Long’s role in Dodgeball was quite plainly, the kid who gets hit with stuff. He was hit with a wrench, gym equipment, an overweight wannabe cheerleader, and many of the titular dodge balls, as well as anything else the filmmakers could think of. Long took these hits with a slapstick awkwardness that made them consistently funny. He committed to the role, if he was going to be hit by an assortment of objects for 90 minutes, he seemed determined to do so with energy. There is some artistry to slapstick and not all actors have it, but Long is one of the better ones.
Accepted
Long starred as Bartleby Gains in this film, his character was a student who created his own college after not being accepted into any real colleges. Saddled with mostly unfunny dialogue and some preachy monologues, Long nevertheless refused to throw away a line, delivering all his dialogue for maximum impact. And when he did get a decent line, he ran with it, take for example the so-funny-it-may-have-been-improvised comment Gaines makes to a fraternity member upon meeting him in the fraternity house, “I like what you’ve done with the place, you know, the homophobia and anti-semitism, but under the rug, it’s nice.”Long’s knack for juicing his roles to their best expression was evident throughout Accepted.
Live Free or Die Hard
Long was saddled with the jokey-sidekick role, playing the computer hacker tag-along to Bruce Willis’ John McLain. But while the role itself seemed set to irk, critics seemed to agree that Long prevented it from descending into obnoxious cutesiness. The L.A. Times Kenneth Turan wrote of Long as hacker Matt Farrell, “Given how many off-putting ways the part of an arrogant and brainy cyber-geek could have been miscast, it's a pleasure to see how engaging Long, known for his Apple Computer commercials, is in the role.” Long proved once again he could turn a poor role into an effective performance.
Future
Long has continued to secure larger and larger roles for himself and his inclusion on the DVD of Knocked Up and in the film Walk Hard suggest he has some relationship to the Judd Apatow repertory company (the actors Judd Apatow uses in all his movies). Apatow has been able to secure leading roles in comedies for many of his actors, and Long already has a successful leading role in a comedy on his resume with Accepted. It seems unlikely the wait will be long for another Justin Long-starring comedy. Here’s hoping such a film would give him a role that is actually funny by itself. Imagine what Long could do with that.
