T.J. Miller makes overconfident supporting characters worth listening to, using quick timing and a little vulnerability to soften the bluster. We rate him when the film leaves room for him, though another wisecracker is not always what a comedy needs.
Fi1m perspective
T.J. Miller often plays the man who assumes everyone wants to hear from him. Erlich Bachman in Silicon Valley (2014–2017) is a good example: arrogant and exaggerated, but with enough vulnerability to make his company bearable. The timing helps us stay with a character we might otherwise dismiss. Miller is a useful supporting comic, provided the surrounding film does not ask him to keep being funny without a pause.
His film debut, Cloverfield (2008), put him in an unusual supporting position: Hud is the cameraman whose viewpoint drives the found-footage story. The voice parts broadened the work, with Tuffnut in How to Train Your Dragon (2010) followed by Fred in Big Hero 6 (2014). By Deadpool (2016), Weasel offered a familiar use for his quick, sarcastic delivery. He has continued to mix live-action supporting parts with animation.
In Deadpool, his fast, sarcastic exchanges as Weasel fit a film that rarely stops talking. Ryan Reynolds does most of the comic work, with Miller effective in support. We laughed at the wisecracking, then grew tired of it as the jokes began to repeat themselves. Director Tim Miller and editor Julian Clarke keep the origin story moving by breaking up the chronology, but changes of pace cannot make every joke fresh. Reynolds and Morena Baccarin are the stronger reasons to spend the evening here.
How to Train Your Dragon gives his voice work a warmer setting. Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders put the boy and his dragon's friendship first, while the human supporting characters, including Miller's Tuffnut, are less carefully drawn. The adventure is exciting and the affection persuasive enough to make the familiar lessons worth hearing. It is the film we recommend more warmly, though Miller has less to do with that preference than the central pair.
Repeated casting in brash supporting parts risks making him too predictable. More parts that allow some vulnerability would give us a reason to expect something different. Start with Silicon Valley if his timing appeals; Deadpool keeps him in support.
Biography
T.J. Miller is an American actor and stand-up comedian. After studying at George Washington University, he moved to Chicago and began performing improv and stand-up. He toured with The Second City for two years and was named one of Variety's "10 Comics to Watch" in 2008.
Miller voiced Tuffnut in How to Train Your Dragon (2010) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014). He played Weasel in Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). His other film roles include Cloverfield (2008), Unstoppable (2010), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Big Hero 6 (2014) and Ready Player One (2018). He starred as Erlich Bachman in the HBO series Silicon Valley (2014–2017).
