# WTF happened to Steve Martin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284 "2003-12-16T07:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/21 "2003-12-16T15:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*[The Spanish Prisoner is] marred by some pretty terrible acting outside of Martin, most notably Rebecca Pidgeon, who is the worst actress to appear in actual Hollywood films in the last fifty years. \*\* You can thank her husband, David Mamet, at least partly for that. Her robotic style is a direct result (I would assume) of his philosophy of “Don’t emote, you pretentious ‘actor,’ just say the lines.” She was much better in _State and Main._ ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/22 "2003-12-16T16:51:14Z")
I am surprised nobody has mentioned Roxanne, a remake Cyrano De Bergenrac. (Gee, I mangled that spelling!) Good chick flick, good comedy, more culture than most mass-market yogurts. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/23 "2003-12-16T17:23:36Z")
How about [A Simple Twist of Fate](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0111194/)? It was his first dramatic role, showing that he had range as an actor, and was not just a simple comedian turned actor. I think he’s always wanted to be respected as a talented actor, writer, musician, and comic. A sort of rennaissance man, not just a zany guy playing banjo with an arrow through his head. He’s seemed to abandon that childish personna in favor or a more mature, intelligent, elder-statesman type one. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/24 "2003-12-16T17:31:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priam \* > \*\*While understanding completely why such a mindset exists, I do loathe it objectively. You should be doing a movie because you think it is a worthwhile piece of cinema, not because its got a bunch of big names in it so its sure to gross a couple hundred million. Of course I’m not making my living off films, either. \*\* Actually, the quote is a joke. It’s from a Kevin Smith movie, and he gives a big look to the camera after saying this, as if to say, “And this is the movie I ‘owe’.” ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/25 "2003-12-16T18:04:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bienville \* > \*\*POST FotB I&II > > Sgt. Bilko- not so good > > Out of Towners- Fair > > Bringing Down the House- crap > > Cheaper By the Dozen- not looking forward to it > > **jehovah68** , with all due respect, I believe the burden of proof falls on you. He’s still doing o.k. in my book. > \*\* It’s really the last two that make me scratch my head. It makes me think of Krusty the Clown when he returns to his comedic roots and refuses all endorsements until he is swayed by enough cash. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/26 "2003-12-16T18:11:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jehovah68 \* > \*\*It’s really the last two that make me scratch my head. It makes me think of Krusty the Clown when he returns to his comedic roots and refuses all endorsements until he is swayed by enough cash. \*\* Maybe Steve Martin will do some commercials for the Canyonero! 🙂 ;j 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/27 "2003-12-16T18:56:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priam \* > \*\*While understanding completely why such a mindset exists, I do loathe it objectively. You should be doing a movie because you think it is a worthwhile piece of cinema, not because its got a bunch of big names in it so its sure to gross a couple hundred million. Of course I’m not making my living off films, either. \*\* Of course, those movies that make a couple of hundred million help provide the capital necessary to make the arty films. Filmmaking, even low-budget filmmaking, ain’t cheap (it’s only “low budget” relative to other films, and not in any objective sense). So don’t loathe that mindset, embrace it, for without it your beloved art house films would not get made. (And yeah, I saw _Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back_; remember, the Internet is a special place where people get together to share pornography and bitch about movies.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hroeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@hroeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hroeder)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/28 "2003-12-16T19:17:28Z")
Wait a moment. Shopgirl is to Literature what your child’s crayola drawing on the refrigerator is to the Mona Lisa. Put that one on your next SAT. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/29 "2003-12-16T19:35:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*Chalk me up as someone who simply cannot understand why anyone likes “The Spanish Prisoner.” Martin is fine in it, but the pacing is bad, it’s all plot and no story, and it’s marred by some pretty terrible acting outside of Martin, most notably Rebecca Pidgeon, who is the worst actress to appear in actual Hollywood films in the last fifty years. \*\* RickJay, I always assumed from your nic that you were a Mamet fan. Apparently I’m wrong? ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/30 "2003-12-16T19:44:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi \* > \*\*I am surprised nobody has mentioned Roxanne, a remake Cyrano De Bergenrac. (Gee, I mangled that spelling!) > > Good chick flick, good comedy, more culture than most mass-market yogurts. \*\* I agree. Probably my favorite Steve Martin flick next to **The Three Amigos**. [hijack]And what was with all that acrobatics in that movie?[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/31 "2003-12-16T19:50:19Z")
First, though “Cheaper by the Dozen” doesn’t appear to be Oscar-worthy material or film genius, why bash it before seeing it? Second, what’s wrong with doing a harmless family comedy, as “CBTD” seems to be? That being said, I love every Steve Martin movie I’ve seen, with the exception of “L. A. Story.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/32 "2003-12-16T19:53:02Z")
I wonder if _Cheaper by the Dozen_ wasn’t a different project when Martin first signed on. I read the book it was based off when I was in middle school, and it was a good, quirky YA novel. Just from the commercials, they’ve obviously made gigantic changes to the plot. For one thing, the book was set around the turn of the century (Well, I guess the movie is set around the turn of a century, too, but it’s the wrong damn century) and the father wasn’t a football coach, he was an “efficiency expert.” I don’t recall it having any of this Mr. Mom crap that the plot of this movie seems to have, either. I wonder how many re-writes the script underwent between Martin signing on and the end of production. Still, you never know: might be good. Steve Martin still hits more often than he misses. I’ll probably wait for this one to show up on cable, though. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/33 "2003-12-16T20:02:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Cyrano De Bergenrac Is that the all-girl version? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/34 "2003-12-16T20:23:32Z")
Cheaper by the Dozen looks like Parenthood Run Amuck. I will not be watching this movie, I don’t like Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, Hillary Duff, anyway but in this movie they will Suck. I normally like SM, but not in this movie, I was hoping he would go the route of Tom Hanks - moving into Drama from Comedy. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/35 "2003-12-16T20:45:00Z")
Damn, they took out the Efficiency Expert part? I was really looking _forward_ to that. I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/36 "2003-12-16T21:05:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, those movies that make a couple of hundred million help provide the capital necessary to make the arty films. Besides the salary earned to plow into a personal project, having a big commercial hit shows the Hollywood establishment that you have a loyal core audience. Hence, your art film is more likely to get backing and distribution. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/37 "2003-12-16T21:10:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Intaglio \* > \*\*I don’t like Bonnie Hunt \*\* :eek: Must… kill… Intaglio… ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/38 "2003-12-16T21:11:56Z")
I read a quote from John Cleese where he said that he and Martin agree that the only reason they take jobs nowadays is for the pleasure of working with a particular actor or director; neither apparently cares too much if the finished product is a dud. ---
**Author:** ![misshannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@misshannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misshannah)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/39 "2003-12-16T21:16:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*I read the book it was based off when I was in middle school, and it was a good, quirky YA novel. \*\* Just FTR, [Cheaper by the Dozen](http://cheaperbelles.tripod.com/books.html) is a true story written by two of the Gilbreth children. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284/40 "2003-12-16T21:32:07Z")
Moody Bastard - I should have said I Hate Bonnie Hunt. The book and the Original Movie (was that Jimmy Stewart and Lucille Ball?) “Cheaper By The Dozen” were good, but this latest incarnation is a Crappy Movie that will Suck Ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-happened-to-steve-martin/219284.md?page=3)