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The Films of Steve Carell

Dan Wainio | Apr 09, 2010 | 0 comments

Ten years ago, the world had no idea who Steve Carell was. Today, he is one of the biggest comedy actors in America. Aside from continuing work in a hit TV show, he stars in three major movies this year, including Date Night, Dinner for Schmucks, and the animated Despicable Me. So how did Steve Carell transition from an apparent nobody into a major summer box office draw?

His career can be split up into three very distinct phases:

Phase 1: The TV Beginnings

Notable Work: Curly Sue (1991), “The Dana Carvey Show” (1996), “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” (1996-2007) “Over the Top” (1997), “The Daily Show” (1999-2005), “Watching Ellie” (2002-2003)

Steve Carell’s first major acting gig was nearly 20 years ago in Curly Sue, the last film directed by John Hughes, in which Carell has a minor role with about one minute of screen time.

The Dana Carvey Show, while only around for one season on ABC, involved some key players who would become gigantic talents in the next decade, most notably Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and writer Charlie Kaufman. Carell is heavily featured in most episodes, and it is easy to see the foundation for some of his later characters. While the show itself was a failure, the surviving remnant was a recurring animated sketch that was continued on Saturday Night Live: The Ambiguously Gay Duo, featuring the voices of then-unknowns Carell and Colbert.

After being featured as a side character in the disastrous Tim Curry-starred sitcom, Over the Top, Steve Carell hit his biggest break of the 90s when he became a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. He joined Colbert as a cast member and they both starred in a popular segment called Even ‘Stephven’.

The Seinfeld Curse famously struck down Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Watching Ellie after one season. Carell had a substantial role in the show, but thankfully this would be his last failed project. His career would only go uphill from here.

Phase 2: Supporting Character

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Carell’s first major appearance in a motion picture was as news anchor Evan Baxter in this summer blockbuster. His role is small and inconsequential to the plot, but it produced one of the better comedic scenes in the film, when Jim Carrey’s Bruce acts out his revenge on Evan during a live broadcast.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

This might be the film when casual movie fans took note of the name Steve Carell. Here he plays the tremendously named Brick Tamland, a man-child of limited intelligence and the best random quips in a movie filled with random quips: “Brick, where’d you get a hand grenade?” – “I don’t know.”

Melinda and Melinda (2004) and Bewitched (2005)

Melinda and Melinda is a lukewarm and somewhat forgettable Woody Allen effort, unique for starring Will Ferrell in the male lead and pairing him up with Steve Carell for a minor scene in the story. In Bewitched, Carell plays the wacky Uncle Arthur, also starring alongside Will Ferrell for the third time. Both of these films are largely forgotten today and that might be for the best.

Phase 3: Leading Man

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

The year 2005 was the best thing that could have happened to Steve Carell. But arguably his luckiest gig was playing the lead role in Judd Apatow’s hilariously crude and warm-hearted ode to virginal innocence. Here, Carell shaped the prototype of inexperienced but well-meaning male protagonist that would dominate R-rated comedies for years to come. The 40-Year-Old Virgin was not only a surprise box office success, but proved to be a critical darling as well.

The Office (2005 – present)

Coinciding with his appearance in a box office smash, Carell starred in the American remake of Ricky Gervais’s and Stephen Merchant’s The Office. His recent screen success could be credited for the show’s steady increase in loyal fans during its first and second season. Today, The Office might have changed its voice to be more broad-humored, but it appears the adjustment paid off by its introduction into mainstream pop culture.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Steve Carell would temporarily shed some of his former wackiness to play a supporting role in the indie-serio-comic movie of 2006. His ‘Uncle Frank’ was a mix of unlikely quirks, but Carell somehow pulled off the performance and made the gay, heart-broken, Proust scholar one of the more memorable characters in this prototypical indie film of the later ‘00s. It is also the only Steve Carell film in the IMDB top 250.

Evan Almighty (2007)

There was no better way to measure Steve Carell’s sudden success than to take a look at the project, Evan Almighty. The idea? Create a spin-off story based around a very minor supporting character in Bruce Almighty and make it the most expensive comedy ever produced. The only problem was that it was maligned by critics and was hindered by below-average writing and poor CGI. The biggest blow, however, came from low box office returns – the worldwide gross of $173 million narrowly missed the $175 million total budget. Regardless, studios still saw potential for Carell as a box office champ.

Dan in Real Life (2007)

In the same year, Steve Carell starred in a much smaller film; the inoffensive and breezy Dan in Real Life. While I’ve personally never seen any family get-togethers as sunny and activity-oriented as those depicted in the film, critics and audiences favored this simpler flick to the bloat and excess of Evan Almighty. Dan in Real Life became a small success.

Get Smart (2008)

The Steve Carell summer-blockbuster treatment was more successful in Get Smart than in Evan Almighty. While the questionable CGI still lingered occasionally, Get Smart had enough charm and humor to make the genre send-up a fun summer movie. It also made huge bucks, solidifying Carell as a box office draw.

Over the Hedge (2006) and Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

Like his Apatow contemporaries, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, Steve Carell has found himself providing many a featured voice for gigantic animated films. Over the Hedge and Horton Hears a Who! are both standard animated fare, but Horton might be better by a small margin. We’ll see how this year’s Despicable Me stacks up.