Steven Wright

Tony Leondis's 2017 film casts Steven Wright as the voice of Mel Meh. His slow, nearly expressionless delivery makes that an understandable choice, but the film has thin characters and little for its actors to work with. Wright rarely signals that an absurd remark deserves a laugh; the slow delivery leaves us to notice how strange it is. Here, the appeal of matching a familiar voice to a character is not enough to sustain the comedy.

The screen career has developed alongside stand-up rather than replaced it. An early feature part in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) was followed by The Appointments of Dennis Jennings (1988), which he wrote, produced and acted in. That degree of involvement matters when considering an actor whose timing and choice of words are so closely connected. A supporting part cannot be expected to offer the same freedom. Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992), with Wright heard as the K-Billy DJ, gives him a job suited to that unhurried monotone.

The difficulty is finding a film that knows what to do around him. In Lawrence Guterman's Son of the Mask (2005), he plays Daniel Moss, while the film gives its shape-shifting baby more attention than its human cast. We were worn out by the frantic effects and shapeless comedy, which leave little pleasure in watching the performers. There is occasional warmth from Jamie Kennedy, but no reason to recommend the film for its cast.

We would not mistake those two films for a fair account of Wright's comic ability. His one-liners and non-sequiturs depend on withholding the usual signals that a joke is arriving, and his lack of emphasis gives the listener time to catch up. The limitation is that casting him for that sound can become a substitute for writing him a part. For an introduction to his screen work, we would start with Reservoir Dogs.