Please help me understand Matthew Broderick’s appeal.
After seeing “The Producers,” I thought Nathan Lane (as usual) was brilliant, Broderick less so. I saw Matthew Broderick in “How to Succeed in Business.” A solid performance, no more. He also starred in “War Games” and “Ferris Bueller,” the latter somehow garnering a cult following, much to my astonishment. (The film struck me as a lost opportunity.) Again, nice performances in each, but nothing that knocked my socks off.
As a Broadway actor, Broderick does not sing or dance particularly well. He does not command the stage physically, nor is his voice striking in any way. In summary, he is not a showman yet, like the little engine that could, keeps getting great roles. (Not that the engine was on Broadway.)
Beats me. But on MST3K, when announcing his version of “Godzilla,” Crow added as an inducement to watch that “it’s Matthrew Broderick-free,” so I guess you’re not alone in this.
I’ve only seen him in Ferris, and the appeal of that movie (to me) was Ben Stein’s attitude and the school secretary’s explanation of his appeal. Two funny scenes. The ending sucked.
I agree with the OP. MB, altho an adequate actor, is called upon to play a “nebish” in The Producers. I never thought of him as a particularly adept nebish, certainly not like Gene Wilder.
On the other hand, Nathan Lane, while necessarily interpreting the Max Bialystok role differently from Zero Mostel, does at least a as credible a job as his predecessor.
Matthew Broderick plays one particular character style really well - that of the “How the heck did I get in this bizarre situation, and now what do I do?” stunned mullet/deer in headlights kind of thing. And when he does that, I’m compelled to watch him.
Luckily I’ve only seen about half his movies, as I’d probably get bored with it very quickly otherwise.
He also usually has a supporting cast that are very entertaining and do not show him up as being inferior, so he still gets chosen for roles.
When he was younger, he would have been in Lisa Simpson’s “Nonthreatening Boys” magazine. In high school when Ferris came out, his appeal to me was that he was quirky, cute (a quirky kind of cute) and had fun.
I’m not really sure what the appeal is now. I haven’t been interested in his recent movies.
Thanks for the reality check. Again, I’m not interested in slamming the guy, it’s just that his success baffles me. There is a tremendous wealth of untapped stage/screen talent around this country, and one would think that better actors would be tapped.
As for Sarah Jessice Parker, I’m not sure I understand her appeal either. Sure, she’s got a killer bod, but her looks don’t appeal to me at all. Looks great in a clingy t-shirt, though.
Matthew Broderick became famous around the same time as John Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr., playing the smart, rascally kid who gets himself into trouble and knows how to get himself out again. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the classic example, followed by WarGames. Biloxi Blues and Ladyhawke are lesser examples of cute, funny roles.
Fifteen years later, unfortunately, while Cusack and Downey (his drug problems notwithstanding) have become known as serious talents, Broderick’s doing Godzilla and Inspector Gadget. I hear he’s going to play Professor Hill in the TV movie of the Broadway revival of The Music Man. No one would describe him as a great talent, it seems, but he still has an appeal (he’s very funny on Letterman). I just wonder how long he can keep it up. I did like him a lot in Election, though.
Now, shall we talk about Tom Cruise and his tiny, whiny voice?
One thing he has going for him is his comic timing. He has got a very old fashion comedic style that most people his age don’t have or ever will have. He is also equally comfortable in the ‘straight man’ role which is also rare.
i like him because he generally comes off as intelligent and he seems like a nice guy in interviews.
He has a gay following as well, for several reasons. First, he’s cute. If the man weren’t famous, he’d be carded until he was 60. Second, he has the distinction of having played a very cute, very romantic, very tragic gay love interest in Torch Song Trilogy. Once a gay man cries over an actor’s character, that actor’s set for life as a gay icon.
Look, I know next to nothing about the whole artistic appeal of movies and acting and directing and all that. What I do know is what I like.
While I haven’t seen a lot of his movies, I’ve seen Ferrus Bueller’s Day Off about five or six times (certain scenes more than once), and I think tha constitutes something. Now that movie is like artwork. I don’t know. I just love it. The way he pulls off the (somewhat cliched) Ferris is beautiful. Nothing bad ever happens to him, yet you never resent him. Unless your name is Jeannie/Shauna and you were in “Dirty Dancing,” but that’s another story. That movie alone is worth gold. Yeah, I’m a pretty big fan…
I have also seen Glory, the civil war movie he was in. That was for History class. He did a good job, but the whole time I was thinking of him as Ferris. (Talk about typecasting someone…)
Yes, but you were supposed to be thinking of him as Ferris. That was the idea: his character was over-promoted and sent to do a job his superiors wanted him to fail at…but he rose to the occasion confounding everyone’s expectations, earning the respect both of his superiors and the Negro troops he commanded.
You were supposed to be thinking of him as Ferris.
I like Matthew Broderick. And Sarah Jessica Parker is both a beautiful woman and a great comic actress, which is a very rare combination.
daffodil mentioned Election - An excellent film ( IMHO ), with a very strong performance by Broderick. I think some of y’all are selling him a just a little short. Although not the most talented actor of his generation, I’d certainly call him a little more than merely competent. Hmmm…Howabout “solid” .
I can’t think of a Matthew Broderick film I haven’t enjoyed - not necessarily loved, but enjoyed - Ferris, Wargames, Glory, Biloxi, Torch Song, Ladyhawke - even Godzilla. I think the appeal is that he’s so thoroughly likeable (to me, at any rate).
Honourable mention to one of my personal favourite films - * The Road To Wellvile* has Broderick holding his own with John Cusack’s con-man and Anthony Hopkins’ decidedly OTT Dr Kellog - without coming off as anything other that Matthew Broderick.
A movie of Broderick’s that no one has mentioned yet is last year’s “You Can Count On Me,” where he is an overpromoted bank office manager who still thinks that his job is beneath him. It’s a masterful performance, as Broderick plays with his non-threatening reputation, making it all the more effective when he acts as a sanctimonious prick.
Great movie, by the way. Laura Linney deserved every inch of her Oscar nomination for it.
That movie alone is worth gold. Yeah, I’m a pretty big fan…