Can Danny McBride Become a Bankable Comedic Actor?
Some may believe he is already there...
I did not like Danny McBride's Foot Fist Way, I thought it was cliched white trash comedy, but I thought he was the best thing in Pineapple Express and loved his contributions to Tropic Thunder. On June 5 he is starring opposite established funny man Will Ferrell in Land of the Lost, a film everyone looks at me strangely when I say, "I really think it could be funny." That's not a lie though, I really do. However, can McBride become more than the goofy sidekick and topline a successful feature film?
I won't count Foot Fist Way against McBride since it was a very small film that was quickly picked up and released into 25 theaters at its widest. Hard to expect anything more than the $234,286 it earned when that is the case. But it appears he is getting a chance at a starring vehicle as Variety announces McBride will co-write Hench for Warner Bros. with Shawn Harwell.
The comedy will feature McBride as a football player who suffers a career-ending injury and needs a job. So he signs on as henchman to a successful villain.
The film is based on the AIT/Planet Lar graphic novel created by Adam Beechen and Mario Bello.
McBride and Harwell have worked together on HBO's "Eastbound and Down" in which McBride stars as Kenny Powers, a burned-out major league ballplayer who returns to teach phys ed at his old middle school. The show was speculated to be in danger of being canceled after its six episode first season run, but back in early April HBO confirmed a second season would be coming and begin airing in 2010.
McBride is also co-starring in Your Highness with James Franco for Pineapple Express helmer David Gordon Green, a film that follows two spoiled and arrogant princes in a medieval fantasy setting. When an evil wizard casts a spell on their father and kidnaps the older prince's fiance, they're forced to go on a quest to save their family and the kingdom. McBride co-wrote the script with Ben Best.
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I loved "The Foot Fist Way" and so far everything he's done after I've been a fan of, especially "Eastbound and Down."
"Hench" sounds like an odd premise, something I already see being a little too "off" to be super successful. Of course I say this without a script being finished, but it just strikes me as a weird idea.
As for McBride as a leading man in comedy, I definitely think he will be a bankable star for a long time. He stole "Pineapple Express" away from Rogen and Franco and "Eastbound…" is one of the most truly funny television shows airing. He tends to go the route of "dickhead comedy" with characters so reprehensible that it becomes hilarious (See "Foot Fist Way" , "Eastbound") and I don't know if that will be his ticket but true talent always shines through. I can see him being one of the top names in comedy for years if he gets the right foothold, I just don't think the "Hench" idea is where I'd start.
See, I don't believe he can take the main role of a movie. He will always need someone else there, and I believe his best roles will be supporting roles because he brings out the best comedy in himself and others when the camera isn't entirely on him. So far, everything he's been doing has been great.
I don't think he can be a headlining star just yet. I think a few more movies and he should be there, people just don't know him by name. In a few years, they will.
I havent really liked him much so far, at best I thought he was tolerable in thing and funny at time, does look decent in Land of The Lost tho.