Is it just me, or is Steve Martin starting to suck?

[CanuckAmok]

One of our time's comic geniuses.

Check out the resume:
Some of the funniest comedy albums/routines of the 70s,
The Jerk,
One of the only funny people on SNL since 1978,
The Man with Two Brains,
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid,
LA Story,
Cruel Shoes,
Pure Drivel (IMO, the funniest book ever written),


And lately:
Novocaine,
Bowfinger,
Bringin' Down the House,
Shop Girl

I understand that he's mellowing, as do we all, but he's still capable of genius. Take his anti-Bush editorial in the New Yorker (or was it Vanity Fair?) earlier this year, for example.

So, what's going on with him?!

[mmm]

1. You are correct, he has lost his edge

[HEyHEY]

2. Him and Eddie Murphy should move to an Island

[Kamika]

10. Together with chevy chase

They seriously should shape up

[POed_Ex_Repub]

3. The last one I really liked with him in it was a Holiday Movie...

"Mixed Nuts".. ever see it? Worth a rental.B-)

[cigarstore]

4. He be old

Time be passing him by.

It be happin' to all of us.

[Blade]

5. Starting?

[PissedOffPollyana]

6. With Steve Martin, I just assume...

... that he's either financing a new independant project or new art for his collection. I heard very good things about Picasso at the Lapin Agile, but didn't get to see it.

Hell, if there is anybody who should have a bit of license to coast on the good old days, it's him (and, of course, any of the Pythons).

[Catholic Sensation]

7. Did you not see the Spanish Prisoner?

That movie was excellent, as was Steve Martin's acting.

[VermontDem2004]

8. Bowfinger was one of Martin's best

And Novacaine was funny as hell too, haven't seen the other two though. But I didn't like some of his older movies either.

[dolgoruky]

9. What do you mean "beginning"

Was he ever funny?

[VermontDem2004]

11. I didn't say beginning

did I? And I thought he was always funny but of course it's just an opinion, whether someone is funny or not is based on that. Opinion.

[FunBobbyMucha]

19. "Was he ever funny?"

C'mon!
"He hates these cans!"

"She has the kind of ass you could eat lunch off of...just like we used to, remember?"

"Damn, your drunk test are hard!"

"Into the mud, scum queen!"

Planes, Trains and Automobiles?!

The hotdog destruction scene in "Father of the Bride?!"

Just for this line from "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" alone he is an institution: "yeah, but can I use her underwear to make soup?"

Give the guy a break. He'd rather write about Picasso than wear a fake arrow on his head, so maybe he's mellowed and doesn't make very well-fitting movie choices these days, but he sure as hell was funny in the past!

[soleft]

13. I loved Bowfinger

[laura888]

12. did not see the anti-Bush editorial!

available on line?

[INTELBYTES]

14. You forgot a couple...

"Father of the Bride" was excellent.
The sequel was OK, but not stellar.
There was one he did with Goldie Hawn, I think it was called "House Guest". It was also very funny.
"Roxanne" kinda sucked.
And "Planes Trains and Automobiles with John Candy was very good.
IMHO

[OldSoldier]

15. You forgot Little Shop of Horrors

Although the dentist is in a very few scenes, he stole the show.

And as for the Dentist Song...it was the best song in the whole movie.

[PVnRT]

16. Starting to?

He's sucked for a while, regardless of his political views.

[DrBB]

17. "Hired gun" projects vs Steve Martin projects

He makes a big distinction between films in which he has no creative role but is just brought in as a hired gun--a lot of 'em seem to be remakes of 'screwball' comedies from the 30s-50s--and projects that he is creatively central in. The latter include some real gems. Not just films, but plays, New Yorker pieces etc. Seems like some of his best energy has been going into the non-cinematic stuff of late.

By the way, that list of his best work leaves out what I think is the best of his own creative film projects, and one of the most unpretentiously perfect and beautiful films ever made, to wit

Roxanne!

[Enraged_Ape]

18. It's just you. Steve Martin is not starting to suck.

He's actually sucked for a long time.

And to think that he was once my favorite comedian. I listened to "Wild and Crazy Guy" so much in my youth that I wore the record out.