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Jun 15, 2009

A simple, polite demand

[Editor's note: Hey, did you come here via a certain somebody's Twitter and/or Facebook link? If so, please go here after reading what's below. Muchas gracias.]

Dear Judd Apatow, Todd Phillips, and/or Adam McKay,

Hey guys. As you probably know by now, you're all doing the Lord's work. Making America laugh their asses off one movie at a time is a win-win proposition for both you and the audience, and you three seem to have the market cornered these days. Sure, you've all had some misses amongst your hits, and I know there are plenty of haters out there, but by and large, you're all well-liked and tremendously successful.

Along the way, you've helped make the careers of several of today's comedic actors, from Will Ferrell to Seth Rogen to Michael Cera to Vince Vaughn and Jason Segel. But now, I have a small request demand of you. See, all of those actors have gotten their shot at stardom. Sure, some were well-known prior to starring in your films, but many others worked their way up from bit parts to featured roles. All I ask now is that you continue what you've already done - showcase some of the little guys. I'm talking specifically about Ken Jeong, Matt Walsh and Joe LoTruglio.

See, these guys are the blue-collar stars of your films (and even some films that none of you were involved with even though they seem like they were, like I Love You, Man and Role Models). They're the unsung heroes, the guys that come in for sometimes as little as a minute or two and deliver big laughs, only to be never heard from again...until the next picture one of you make comes along. After all, Jeong just owned his (decent-sized) role in The Hangover, in which Walsh also had what might be his funniest bit part. And I realize that Lo Truglio is connected more to those State/Stella guys (they were responsible for Role Models, too), but Judd's shown him some love along the way, too.

To wit, I submit their respective resumes:

Ken Jeong
Judd Apatow: Knocked Up, Pineapple Express (Apatow produced), Funny People
Adam McKay: Step Brothers, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (McKay produced)
Todd Phillips: The Hangover
Unrelated, but seems like it is via multiple connections: Role Models

Matt Walsh
Judd Apatow: Superbad (Apatow produced), Pineapple Express (Apatow produced), Drillbit Taylor (Apatow produced)
Adam McKay: Step Brothers
Todd Phillips: Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, School for Scoundrels, The Hangover
Unrelated, but seems like it is via multiple connections: Role Models, I Love You, Man, Semi-Pro

Joe LoTruglio
Judd Apatow: Superbad (Apatow produced), Pineapple Express (Apatow produced)
Adam McKay:
Todd Phillips:
Unrelated, but seems like it is via multiple connections: Role Models, I Love You, Man

Now, preferably, one of you can direct or produce a film starring the three of them together as leads. Aside from taking the studio pressure off you (since they're bound to give you that "none of these guys are stars!" crap), I think they'd have great chemistry together and play off of each other very well. Heck, all three of them were in Role Models together, and that seemed to work out pretty well, with Jeong threatening to steal the film out from Paul Rudd's and Seann William Scott's feet at any minute. Just imagine what they could all do with a halfway-decent script and at least 20 minutes of screen time each. The best part may be this: worst-case scenario is that it flops, in which you can say "Well, what'd you expect? There were no stars!"; best-case scenario is it's a modest or even good-sized hit, and you get to come out smelling like roses, playing the hero to not only these three guys, but to geeks like me that care about their respective success.

So Judd, Todd and/or Adam - what do you say? I'm not asking much, am I? Hey, if you want to mitigate your risk even further, how about one of you directs while the other two produce? Or maybe the three of you produce while one of your up-and-coming apprentices (lackeys) directs?

Anyway, I hope you take this under serious consideration, and I look forward to whatever you guys come up with for these three great comedic character actors. Thanks for listening.

Fletch


9 people have chosen wisely: on "A simple, polite demand"

Ryan McNeil said...

Great post!

I haven't written my two cents on THE HANGOVER just yet, but one of the things I really liked about it was that none of the familiar Frat Pack faces showed up - even as a cameo.

Guys like Rudd, Rogen, Ferrell, etc do crack me up, but it's about time to give a new class of buffoonery their shot.

Alex said...

Aww I hope your plan works! Those guys definitely deserve more recognition.

Also I know this isn't exactly what you had in mind, but if you'd like to see Matt Walsh star in something you could check out Martin and Orloff, which he also co-wrote with fellow Upright Citizens Brigade members. It's pretty out there but I remember liking it (it's been a while). Plus Amy Poehler is there! And Ian Roberts, who has also been popping up in small roles in various Apatow/McKay movies (as well as Arrested Development as the Literal Doctor). Just a thought!

Fletch said...

Hatter - agreed. I certainly like all of those bigger name guys as well, but not only should the little(r) guys get their shot, but we need a break from Rogen and gang so as not to get too sick of them (too late for a lot of people).

Alex - thanks for the recommendation. I was a UCB fan but somehow missed out on MArtin & Orloff altogether. Looks like it has a great cast all-around (Andy Richter, David Cross). And yeah, I've caught Ian popping up as well, just not with the frequency of Walsh. His Literal Doctor was great.

Sadly, though, I saw Ian and MAtt Besser doing some pre-movie comedy/PSA (I can't remember) at the theaters some months back. It wasn't very funny and just felt awkward, and I was sad to see them reduced to that.

Buffett35 said...

Just in case you hadn't noticed, LoTruglio is one of the new deputies on the new season of Reno 911! Walsh, Besser, and Roberts all have recurring roles too, not to mention the dozens of other familiar faces. The IMDB page is very long.

Nick said...

I agree! This would be quite awesome. Ken Jeong needs bigger roles (though preferably without full frontal nudity a la The Hangover).

Maybe it'll be The Hangover 2? They're already planning it. Might as well do it there.

Fletch said...

Buffett35 - nope. For whatever reason, I've just never gotten into Reno 911. I know it's not, but it came out right after Super Troopers and always seemed like a cheap knockoff. I'm sure it's funny and has a great cast, but I guess I feel like that boat has long since sailed by.

Nick - c'est possible. I wouldn't be surprised by a Jeong appearance in Hang2, but personally I'm hoping for them to get their own separate vehicle, along or all together.

Squadcar said...

People tend to make that mistake about Reno 911...it was actually first made BEFORE Super Troopers, but Super Troopers was released in theaters before Reno premiered on TV. A weird coincidence, but neither ripped off the other.

Fletch said...

Thanks for the clarification, Squadcar.

Whatever the case, it felt like it was a ripoff at the time and clouded my judgement. I might get into it someday, but I don't have the urge to dive in from the beginning at this point.

Justin said...

Please, please, please give us more Walsh. He's been delivering in movies all the way back to Old School and that's not even considering what he's done with UCB!