There are circumstances when an actor who always seems to be the exact same bloody guy is forgivable. When you go to see a Steven Seagal movie (do people still go to see Steven Seagal movies?), you expect to see Steven Seagal, nothing more, nothing less. Certain action heroes or 1 schtick comedians are assumed to be the same guy each time… and to some degree that can work.
However, for the most part it becomes an annoying and often distracting trait when a performer seems incapable of being anything other than one character. Today’s case in point is former Arrested Development star Michael Cera.
Now let me go on record here. I liked Cera in Arrested Development. I LOVED Cera in Superbad. I thought Cera was pretty good in Juno, but I started to really notice that he was essentially the same guy… but he was just a supporting character so it didn’t bother me too much. However, the other day I watched the boring, yawn inducing and infinitely dull “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and there was no getting away from it… Michael Cera once again was the exact, to the letter, in every way, with every mannerism, with every trait same bloody character that he’s been for the last couple of years.
The IMDB lists his character name as “Nick”, but it might as well have been “Evan” or “Paulie”… or for that matter you could have just named the whole bloody movie “Superbad 2: Evan In New York” and the ONLY reason anyone would have doubted it was a Superbad sequel would have been the absence of Jonah Hill.
Yes, I get it Cera. You’re a mildly awkward, good hearted, understated and sympathetic post-teen who struggles with identity and self confidence despite having a lot to offer. Oh wait… which one of his characters are we talking about? Oh that’s right… ALL OF THEM!!!
I’m now officially bored with Michael Cera. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t DISLIKE Cera. I’m very open to seeing him in something else, as long as he’s playing a different character (even in the slightest way) from the one and only guy he seems to know how to play. Other than that, not interested.
