Easy Come Easy Gaughin

Eugene Levy

First fame came with SCTV, a hit and miss TV series with absolutely hilarious bits. Levy took one of his skills, the sort of bumbling over-confident blowhard, and turned it into an entire film career. When it works, when it’s sharp and biting, it’s great. When it doesn’t work, and he tries to shift out of his weasely best and into sincere mode, as in the horrifying Cheaper by the Dozen films, it’s darn near unwatchable. Despite this, the second of those films shows up on his list, because it’s one of his lengthiest screen times among all of his work, and this is about sketching out a Eugene Levy film fest, which you can’t very well have with movies that give him six lines. He is the heart of the mostly-improvised Christopher Guest mockumentaries, where his comedic skills are less impeded by adherence to plot.

On balance I tend to enjoy him his schtick, but don’t really expect Shakesperian depth from him.

Ten best roles: 10) The Secret Life of Girls 9) The Man 8) Repli-Kate 7) Bringing Down the House 6) For Your Consideration 5) Cheaper by the Dozen 2 4) A Mighty Wind 3) Splash 2) Waiting for Guffman 1) Best in Show

Percentile rating: 80.58

Peak Period: 2003 – 2006

Neighborhood: Adam Baldwin, Alan Cumming, Sam Elliott, Beverly Garland, Rhys Ifans, Bruno Kirby