MovieChat Forums > Judd Apatow Discussion > Did he ruin modern American comedy?

Did he ruin modern American comedy?


It seems like most comedies now consist of comedians (and wannabe comedians) standing around ad-libbing with little sense of restraint. He made a generation of actors and filmmakers believe that any Tom, Dick and Harry could be Bill Murray.

Then there's the bland direction and cinematography.

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I was pleasantly surprised by This is 40, and king of Staten Island. Both were a lot better than I was expecting. Haven’t seen his other efforts, but Hollywood could use more like these and less MCU \ CGI fare.

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Yeah, his comedians are high while they are ad libbing, so it's hysterical for them and other high people. But not so much for everyone else.

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Agreed.

I have liked some of his films (particularly The 40-Year-Old Virgin), but that lazy, overly-indulgent, keep shooting any old crap that comes out of the actors' mouths, style of comedy seemed to kill-off well-crafted, highly-tuned comedy screenplays, allowing mediocrities, like Seth Rogan and whoever Paul Feig has on his pedestal, to shoot off their mouths, without any filter, believing they're some sort of combination of Monty Python, Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy at their respective peaks.

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