***Official Ben Stiller Thread***

[ChipWrecked]

I notice that threads about movies often, if the cast contains Ben Stiller, devolve/evolve into a discussion of him.

Feel free to hate or praise Ben Stiller here.

According to tl;dr policy please don't hate on the poster, just his/her opinion.



I'll take Counterpoint to what I expect will happen. I like Stiller.

I thought he was funny in 'Happy Gilmore' as the evil nursing home aide. His mugging for the secret camera at the end credits of 'Meet the Parents' never fails to make me laugh - "Can you deal with that!" He perfected the slimy idiot from 'Gilmore' as White Goodman in 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'.

He has a terrific comedy pedigree: Mother Ann Meara, father Ben Stiller of Seinfeld fame where he played Frank Costanza. Stiller and Meara played the comedy circuit for years, becoming regulars on the Ed Sullivan Show, which is where I first remember them.

Ben is married to Christine Taylor, the female lead in 'Dodgeball'. They have a son and daughter.

OK. Let the Ben Stiller hate commence!

[rothko]

it doesn't get any better than starsky & hutch in german.

[katyseagull]

Meet the Parents - As Greg Focker he was great. No one could have been as hilarious in this role. Something about his facial expressions and his "everyman" look. This guy is a hilarious straight man reacting to the nonsense around him.






Some of my favorite scenes:
-When he goes over to the ex-fiance's house (Owen Wilson),
-when he's trying to get the cat off the roof,
-when he smacks his sister-in-law in the face,
-when he's at the airport and later in the plane yelling at the flight attendant. Come on, this is good stuff.




Something About Mary




As a teen he made the best nerd out there and later he makes a really likable less-than-cool adult. I think he was well cast myself.

Favorite scenes:
-playing the teen with braces (omg!),
-his scene with the hitchhiker and later being interrogated by the cops.
-when he first approaches Mary after all those years,
-the ending where he is walking away wailing like a child.


How people can hate either of these two movies is beyond me.

[wet work]

I think he's good overall. Most of the comedies are worth seeing. Permanent Midnight was a good movie as well and shows he's capable of more than just comedy.

I remember The Ben Stiller Show being pretty funny, but I haven't seen it in years so my memory could be off.

[ill.eatyourEYES]

No big hater, sometimes he fits the role (Something About Mary, first Focker movie).

Sometimes he tries too hard, uses too many of his funny faces and it shows in every joke (Dodgeball, Zoolander, etc.)

He's at his best when he has a "normal" role or cameo and doesn't use his neanderthaler face all the time. That just isn't funny at all.

[ADLinden]

i think hes one of the most underrated comedy actors out there

[jesusarenque]

Ben Stiller is the only actor whose mere presence in a film will keep me from watching it.

[Stagger_Lee]

He is lucky to be in the right era.

Go back a generation and he would be lucky to be Potsy Webber or Gilligan instead of a movie star.

It is not his fault, but he could be the poster boy for the current crop of really bad movies.

[Kos13]

[ QUOTE ]
Ben Stiller is the only actor whose mere presence in a film will keep me from watching it.

[/ QUOTE ]

[katyseagull]

[ QUOTE ]

It is not his fault, but he could be the poster boy for the current crop of really bad movies.

[/ QUOTE ]

What? Surely you liked Meet The Parents.