There is a pretty substantial number of comedians who have predominantly become well known for their long runs as the host of late-night programming. This includes those who had well-known gigs before getting their own solo show. For instance, before Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel co-hosted The Man Show. Before The Colbert Report and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the titular comedian was on The Daily Show. Then there were the ones who started on Saturday Night Live, such as Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. Of all these hosts or those like them, there have been a fair number who have given the big screen a shot, before, during, or after their run on late night.
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What follows are the best and worst of those attempts. Some were successful, some failed hard. What they all have in common is the presence of someone who has made a career sitting behind a desk…on television.
Best: Stephen Colbert & Jimmy Kimmel in Monsters vs. Aliens
Even though it’s the highest-rated American late-night talk show on air, CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will soon come to an end. So, there’s a good chance Colbert will once more venture onto big screen territory. And he should, because he’s had some memorable roles in movies. For instance, as President Hathaway in Monsters vs. Aliens, which he made a few years into The Colbert Report. Jimmy Kimmel also popped up to provide the vocal effects for Insectosaurus, though since he doesn’t speak, he was not credited.
While it didn’t lead to a film franchise like Shrek or Madagascar, Monsters vs. Aliens is one of DreamWorks Animation’s best movies. It wears its love for ’50s sci-fi and monster movies on its sleeve and the cast is having fun. This is especially true of Colbert, whose President Hathaway is a goofball.
Worst: John Stewart in Death to Smoochy
Has Danny DeVito’s Death to Smoochy become a cult classic? Sure, but it’s still not a very good movie. In fact, it’s often pretty depressing.
Before he linked up with the dark comedy crew of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, DeVito actually directed quite a few dark comedies of his own. For instance, Throw Momma from the Train, The War of the Roses, and Duplex. The least effective of these is Smoochy, which has a hard time settling on a single tone and saddles Robin Williams with a character who is more frightening than funny. Jon Stewart plays Marion Stokes, the executive in charge of the kids show Williams’ “Rainbow” Randolph and Edward Norton’s Sheldon Mopes are fighting over. He’s also embezzling from the company. It’s not a bad role for Stewart, who gets to nervously sweat under the pressure, but he’s not given much else to do.
Stream Death to Smoochy for free with ads on The Roku Channel.
Best: Conan O’Brien in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
If Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (her first film since Yeast back in 2008) is bound for any awards season love, it’s for Rose Byrne’s lead performance. But as the therapist of Byrne’s Linda, Conan O’Brien is similarly excellent…and it’s an entirely straightforward dramatic performance.
There’s a novelty factor in seeing professional silly factory O’Brien take on a dramatic role, and he really pulls it off. He’s actually taken on several roles since TBS’ Conan ended in 2021, including The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain. Up next, he’ll be joining the Toy Story family for the fifth movie, in which he’ll voice Smarty Pants.
Worst: Seth Meyers in New Year’s Eve
Garry Marshall, writer for The Lucy Show and creator of The Odd Couple and Happy Days had a successful transition to the big screen. The first half of his filmography was fairly solid, with winners such as The Flamingo Kid, Overboard, Beaches, and Pretty Woman strewn throughout. The latter half of his film career was far less solid, with The Prince Diaries being the one fan-favorite outlier.
The latter half of his filmography contained outright duds like Exit to Eden, Raising Helen, and Georgia Rule. But he reached his low point with his final three films: Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Mother’s Day. All three of them have loads of big names who are saddled with paper-thin dialogue and pathetic excuses for character arcs. For instance, in New Year’s Eve, Saturday Night Live vet Seth Meyers plays Griffin Byrne, whose wife Tess (Jessica Biel) will soon have her first child. They compete with another couple to get a New Year’s Day baby bonus of $25,000. Long story short, their baby is born first but they lie so the other couple, who is struggling financially, can have the bonus. That’s it.
Stream New Year’s Eve on Starz.
Best: Craig Ferguson in How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon wasn’t just a major commercial success for DreamWorks, but a critical darling, as well. It’s easy to see why, as it has excellent animation, a heartfelt story at its core, and plenty of emotional depth.
Craig Ferguson plays Gobber the Belch, one of the franchise’s more outright humorous characters. On top of getting most of the movie’s funniest lines, Ferguson also infuses Gobber with loyalty and compassion, all delivered in his distinct thick Scottish accent.
Stream How to Train Your Dragon on Peacock.
Worst: Jay Leno in Collision Course
Buddy cop comedies are nothing new. To stand out they must have something that really stands out, like Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte’s starkly contrasted characters who end up sharing a believable friendship in 48 Hrs.
It says a lot that Collision Course was meant for a 1989 release and ended up debuting on home video three years later. It’s exactly what you would expect a movie about a Japanese police officer solving a mystery in Detroit to be, which is a bunch of characters being racist. Pat Morita and Jay Leno try with what their given, but this was not the movie to get Leno’s film career off the ground, as is evidenced by the fact it was the only movie in which he had a leading role.
Stream Collision Course on Cinemax.
Best: Arsenio Hall in Coming to America
Coming to America is mostly Eddie Murphy’s movie. And to this day its one of his funniest. But Arsenio Hall is owed nearly as much credit for how well this movie works.
Hall convinces us that his Semmi, the best friend and personal aide of Murphy’s Prince Akeem, really cares about him. It’s a sweet performance. But just as Murphy plays several characters, the funniest of which are the overzealous Reverend Brown and Morris, a barber who is forced to listen as the owner of the shop gives out a profanity-laden speech about Joe Louis’ title as the greatest boxer of all time.
Worst: Jimmy Fallon in Taxi
Jimmy Fallon has been in several good movies, and we’ll actually discuss those in a second. But suffice to say, Tim Story’s Taxi is very much not one of them.
Even paired up with Queen Latifah, who was at the height of her star power at this point, this is a movie where Fallon doesn’t get a single laugh. It’s hard to fully blame his exaggerated performance, though, considering it’s a star vehicle with as bland a script as can be.
Stream Taxi on Starz.
Best: Jimmy Fallon in Almost Famous
Almost Famous is Cameron Crowe’s magnum opus. It’s full of heart, realistic characters, devastating changes in those characters’ dynamics, and a wonderful recreation of the ’70s. If it’s not the best movie of 2000, it ranks quite high.
Fallon plays Dennis Hope, the road manager of Stillwater, the band that has allowed young aspiring journalist William Miller to enter their circle so he can write a career-making story (and expand their profile in the process). Even those who don’t consider themselves Fallon fans have to admit he’s pretty great in the perpetually exasperated role. This was his first movie, just several years into his tenure on SNL, and it’s never been matched (though Fever Pitch and Whip It are both quite enjoyable).
Stream Almost Famous on fuboTV.
Worst: John Oliver and Stephen Colbert in The Love Guru
The Love Guru is the ultimate proof that Mike Myers has a tendency of beating something that works into the ground. Playing multiple heightened, exaggerated characters worked in the Austin Powers movies and So I Married an Axe Murderer, but it falls flat in The Love Guru. A similar example from his career was The Cat in the Hat. Just because How the Grinch Stole Christmas worked doesn’t mean The Cat in the Hat will, especially when it takes The Grinch‘s subtle adult humor and makes it overt.
No one really escapes The Love Guru unscathed. Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Verne Troyer, Justin Timberlake, and Oliver all struggle with deeply unfunny material that is, quite often, offensive. That is, when they’re not mugging for the camera (which Myers and Timberlake do pretty much throughout). Thankfully, Colbert’s role is limited, he plays an NHL commentator with a few lines in the third act.
Stream The Love Guru for free on Hoopla.
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