Why Can't Comedians Stretch to Dramatic Roles?



Bill Murray is a spectacular exception, but then he always embroidered the dark, underclass edge of the Chicago streets -- ask Chevey Chase -- to his brand of humor. Tom Hanks also seems to have surmounted the learning curve of comedy actor to dramatic actor. Off the coast of the remote island of Drama float aimlessly the stranded careers of comedy actors that have tried to hug that distant shore. The misses are legion, everyone from Jim Carrey in the hypernoxious "The Majestic" to David Spade in Lost and Found serve as examples. On Popwatch:

"While you were sleeping, very little changed — at least in regards to Reign Over Me, the Adam Sandler drama that got drowned out amidst all the TMNT/300/Shooter noise at the box office and opened poorly last weekend. There's still no sunshine for this bleak, R-rated, post-9/11 story, which debuted with just $7.5 million: It earned a mere $570,820 on Monday and, I think, we can just about kiss it future prospects goodbye.

"Which is troubling. Because this makes for yet another recent example of a popular comedian attempting to stretch into dramatic fare and falling flat."

(Popwatch)