Posterized: Paul Rudd
Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 4:00PM 
gif via MNPPWere I to type "Paul Rudd is back in movie theaters!" one might reasonably respond, "Was he ever out of movie theaters?"
The prolific star never stops working for better or worse. This has led to a super cluttered career with blink and you'll miss it highs, "he was in that?" mixed results, and "this'll only disappoint you for a month" lows. All until the next project surfaces. Admission, co-starring Tina Fey (who we just discussed), is not winning over critics but it also doesn't seem likely to enrage some fans the way This is 40's metaphorical navel-gazing and literal butthole-gazing did.
1995-1996 (ODD BEGINNINGS)
1997-2012 after the jump
We set the stage with his first two years in the movies which basically defined the next 17 years of "I loved him in that!" (Clueless) and "huh... what?" (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), and "That's right... I forgot he was in that" (Romeo+Juliet)"
I thought he was an ideal subject for Posterized until I realized the sheer amount of movies he'd made over the years so we're missing about 5-10 titles (I think) here, mostly of the so obscure I couldn't find a poster or cameo variety.
1997-2007 (THE WANDERINGS)
Am I the only person alive that saw P.S. with Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden? Rudd was better in the stage version of The Shape of Things but then... it was just better on stage where FACE-SMACKING THEMES & METAPHORS are easier to pull off. The obviously highlight here is his sloppy kissing poonhound in Wet Hot American Summer, yes?
2007-2009 (ENSEMBLE YUKS)
2010-2012 (LEADING MAN AGAIN?)
Looking over all these movies you realize how many female stars he's double or triple-teamed with (Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Leslie Mann, Elizabeth Banks) and that his frequent co-stars are very frequent. He likes to work with his friends.
How Many Have You Seen? It's hard to keep up with him.
Do you think he needs new management or do you think his "I'll do anything" -- leads, cameos, dramas, tv, stage -- approach? If you'd like him to focus more which wing of his career do you think needs the TLC at this point?
Reader Comments (18)
His career reflects that of foreign performers who participate in all forms of their profession, that's something he should be praised for instead of seeing it as misdirection or drifting. He's not a female so the luxury to go about his career this way gives him longevity, solid paydays, and the opportunity to never be forgotten, see Samuel L Jackson for the same trajectory except in Jackson's case his work has diminished all the promise and potential of his earlier work.
I love the sexiness of Paul Rudd, but resent the grotesqueness of his choices in going all out in the name of comedy and I don't have to site anything, you know—as Julianne More said in Kids, you know.
This is the thing, I love Pull Rudd. I hate the type of comedies he plays in, so I was never drawn to a large segment of his movies - I always ended up watching his movies out of a fluke, or because a friend really insisted. Then, I saw How do you know (hoping for a Reese comeback that never happened), and I realized that no matter how I feel about the movie he's in (and that movie was pretty bad), he's always dependably good to great. I had one of those flashbacks that went to Clueless, and all of sudden my heart started beating faster lol.
Of course, I think he should pick better material. But you know what? He's in a rare category of actors who work regularly and don't let celebrity get in the way or their joy of filmmaking. So good for him, and let him continue to pick roles and partners he likes working with so that from time to time (which is more often than most actors), it all comes together for him.
Love Paul Rudd for the simple fact that he's always sporting a huge shit-eating grin; he's just too damn charming.
As for challenging himself, he has a co-leading role in the upcoming David Gordon Green film, so hopefully we see him branch out a little from his aw-shucks nice guy routine.
I love that even if I haven't seen the movie (or haven't seen it yet), there's usually some clip of Rudd from it that makes its way around the 'nets, from Wanderlust to Wet Hot American Summer to Forgetting Marshall. Also, I have heard "slappa da bass" on random occasions at least six times in the past two years.
Paul Rudd is gorgeous and talented but I don't ever think he'll be a leading man. And it breaks my heart to say this. He doesn't quite have that *something* which pushes him over into hero territory; he will forever be Paris to Romeo. Even Clueless, in which he is absolutely perfect in every way, didn't make him into a hero: that was a film about Cher, and all other characters were subsidiary. He's like a male Thelma Ritter.
(But I absolutely loved Object of my Affection. Like, obsessively).
He's funny and charming but it's a rare instance when I even want to watch one of his films, the previews alone make them look excruciating and when I happen upon one they usually are. The last one of his movies that I actually enjoyed was Cider House Rules and that was long ago. He is a game performer so perhaps he'll be fortunate and get something in which he can stand out but he'll never make that leap to carrying a movie, that time has passed. Of course even if he does hit in something outstanding he's so indiscriminate in his choices that it will be squandered. Perhaps he is satisfied with be a journeyman actor which is great but he should still try to measure his output.
Oh my Paul! I love Paul, he just seems like such a sweet guy. Such an underrated actor. Always a highlight in his movies. But yeah, some of his movie choices are quite questionable, but I guess as someone said. It gives him longevity.
Must watch I Could Never Be Your Woman. Even though the trailer make it seems very bad and the reviews haven't been too nice. It's still my favorite actress of all time and Paul Rudd, so must see it.
Wow, I've seen more of these than I would have guessed ... I didn't realize he'd had such a prolific career either. After all these years, he's still Josh in Clueless to me, but then again, I love that movie; I know all the dialogue by heart.
I did see P.S. - I am a big Marcia Gay Harden fan - plus this was the follow-up film from the director of Roger Dodger, and I thought that was a great movie... this one wasn't nearly as good. Rudd must have had a pretty small role in it; I can't remember his presence in it at all, but it wasn't a very memorable film.
Except for Romeo + Juliet and Cider House Rules, I've seen his entire filmography lying on my couch any given Sunday. Not a good sign. We could describe him as male version of Bullock, nice and harmless, but I think he is more talented than that, so I agree he needs a change and go back to basics: stage, indie films or a meaty supporting character in a big studio movie.
i've seen p.s. twice and i can't for the life me remember paul rudd in it - the lovely laura linney, the adorable topher whatshisname, the ridiculously over the top marcia gay harden, the ageing gabriel byrne - yes. paul rudd? nothing....
I'm sure that I need to revisit The Object of My Affection, but I enjoyed him there. He's a wonderful everyman and the roles that stick with me came from Clueless, Knocked Up and Friends, where he made the extremely difficult task of matching Lisa Kudrow's uber-quirky and lovable Phoebe with his own lovable charm seem effortless. I think he understands his Hollywood personality perfectly - he is the heartfelt foil to roles that (perhaps unfairly?) receive more acclaim.
The Bullock comparison, though - Paul Rudd is a solid actor with a charming personality. Bullock banked some of the greatest rom coms and light comedies Hollywood has seen in the last couple decades. Not the same thing.
Hey Nathaniel, have you quit on the Film BiTCH Awards???? There are gold medals still to be bestowed and the Oscars are long finished. It's been almost a month already!!!!
I got tired a long time ago of saying, "Paul Rudd was the best thing in it." because the material around him has been, to put it extremely nicely, underwhelming. This is in regards to his output in the last six years. He needs to work with sharper screenwriters like an Alexander Payne or David Russell. I liked him in Perks though.
He was good in Perks and Clueless, both films he was a supporting player in. He is not really an actor I rush to go out and see but he is never dull or phoning it in and he brings a certsin likeability to any role he is in. It's interesting that Hollywood has tried to make him into a leading man since 1998!
Gage -- i haven't quit. I just get easily distracted.
He was really special in My Idiot Brother, unfortunately the movie was uneven.
I Love You Man is awesomely great and is easily his best LEAD performance.
Best films on this list: I Love You Man, 40-Yr old Virgin, Clueless, and Perks.
I've seen 15 and all of those were the hit ones or more well-known ones. I was in a sexually reverse-role version of "The Object of My Affection" when that came out, so that one connects me with me the most.
I think he's more like Alec Baldwin. A character actor in a leading man's body.