Friday Night Double Feature: We Love Alan Tudyk

One of the curses of being a movie fanatic is that everyone expects you to know everything about movies. Even worse – they expect you to tell them everything about movies too. If they have a favorite actor, they want you to know everything they’ve ever done, with added points for knowing their bra size, favorite brand of cigarettes, or hotel reservation pseudonyms. God help you if they find out something before you do, because, for some unknown reason, they’ll never let you live it down, even if it’s not that important to you.

The other day one of my friends blindsided me with the question/demand, “How come you didn’t tell me Wash was in Knocked Up!?!” It was a very good question. I think Alan Tudyk (who played Wash in the cult-followed “Firefly” and subsequent film Serenity) is one of the most underrated comedic actors out there. It’s actually even better that the actor is seldom cast in comedic movies. His roles give him a chance to show off his talent without having to compete with everyone for laughs. He’s the relieving moment in action or drama movies.

Tudyk is in Knocked Up in a typically wonderful performance as an E! News executive. He’s the one who promotes Katherine Heigl’s character to an on-air talent position, with the recommendation of regular gym visits – without actually being able to make that recommendation. He’s only in two or three scenes in the movie, but I laughed just as much in those scenes as I did elsewhere in the film. It’s a shame Judd Apatow didn’t think a network exec could hang out with the less driven main characters, because I’d love to have seen what Tudyk could have done around Seth Rogen and friends.

But I digress – my friend demanded to know why I hadn’t shared the information that Tudyk was in Knocked Up. Quick to change the focus, I started talking about how brilliant he is in other roles – roles my friend hadn’t seen him in. She just loved him as Wash in “Firefly” and Serenity. Well, if that’s all you know Tudyk from, you’re missing out my friends. So, with that in mind, here’s the “We Love Alan Tudyk” Friday Night Double Feature. Mind you, these movies are about as far removed as possible in theme, plot, and even the tone of the picture. But, if you’re after some hilarious moments from Tudyk, these are among his best work.

28 Days

I doubt anyone would expect me to list a movie about recovering drug addicts as Tudyk’s most hilarious role, but it is. This is the movie that really cemented for me how talented Tudyk really is. He plays Gerhardt one of the recovering addicts encountered by Sandra Bullock. In fact, as part of her recovery group he’s in the film quite a bit (the movie really should be considered an ensemble piece rather than a Bullock film). With a German accent and a weepy voice, Gerhardt is both sympathetic and absolutely hilarious. Attempting to explain the choices we make in life, Gerhardt tearfully talks about making decisions at a fork in the road, and then goes on to ponder what kind of fork that might be – a salad fork or a shrimp fork, and then how different people probably have to cope with different sized forks. The point is lost as Gerhardt gets off track, but the result is a hilarious highlight of the film – a moment that was improvised by Alan Tudyk. With less screen time and character development than Bullock’s character, Gerhardt was one of the characters I really wanted to know would make it at the movie’s end. Recovery is a bit of a crap-shoot, but I like to think Gerhardt made it out all right.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

The second movie in our Double Feature is more what you’d probably expect – more pure comedy. In fact, Dodgeball is just shy of being a melodrama. With spoofs of ESPN and sports in general, and Ben Stiller playing an over the top villain facing off with Vince Vaughn’s subdued demeanor, this movie is already comedic gold. But in a film featuring a team of misfits, how does an actor stand out? Easy – he plays a pirate. That’s right, Alan Tudyk is the “dread pirate Steve” in Dodgeball’s modern world, making him stand out more than any of the other misfits in the bunch. I mean, it’s one thing to be the fat guy or to be the wimpy high schooler, but to be a pirate? That’s as outlandish as it gets. True to form, in a movie where everyone is getting the laughs, Tudyk gets to play a few of the story’s real moments of heart as the most visible sign of how the team and its players change as they find success. Typical Tudyk – in the drama he’s playing the comedic moments and in the comedy he’s playing the part that makes us connect emotionally... well, at least until he gets on the Dodgeball court.

Other pictures featuring Alan Tudyk: Serenity (and obviously “Firefly”), Knocked Up, A Knight’s Tale, I, Robot

Enjoy our Double Feature suggestions? and maybe we’ll use them in a future column.