Ben Stiller is a talented comedic actor. I have seen many of his films and have enjoyed quite a few of them. Although I am a fan, I have come to realize that he tends to play variations of one of the same two characters in every film.
Character #1: Down-on-His-Luck, Average Guy
Stiller plays this character in the majority of his movies.
He portrays a somewhat likable man that falls victim to unfortunate event after unfortunate event. Several humorous misunderstandings occur at his expense. He eventually reaches his breaking point and goes a little crazy. During the last twenty minutes of the film his life gets back on track and all is dandy.
Examples: There’s Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Duplex, Along Came Polly, Night at the Museum, and The Heartbreak Kid
Character #2: Over-the-Top, Crazy Guy
In the few movies that Stiller does not play Character #1, he plays this character. He will portray an outrageous guy that is overly confident, narcissistic, and more than a little crazy.
Examples: Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Heavyweights, and Starskey & Hutch
Agreed
I have another role where he plays both albeit be in varying levels
in “The Royal Tenenbaums”
after watching that we cannot ridicule his acting but just wish he would take chances doing those type of acting again
That is true about his role in The Royal Tenebaums. I agree that he would benefit from taking some chances with some different types of roles.
Great article.
I completely agree about “The Royal Tenenbaums”. One of my favorite movies and a surprisingly complex performance by Ben Stiller.
I think most of his talent and luck come with good writing. The Royal Tenebaums was a great movie with a great screenplay. Written very well. So were most of the jokes in Zoolander. Those are the only 2 movies with Ben Stiller that I like. If it wasn’t for such good writing in both of those movies, I doubt he would have performed very well.