Dear Eugene,
First off,I'd like to say that I've been a fan of yours ever since those wonderful days of SCTV,when you,John Candy,Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara(not to overlook Rick Moranis,Dave Thomas or Andrea Martin)put some damn fine funny moments on TV screens across the land. Like many other comedy skit show regulars,you went on to the big screen and while it would be unreasonable to insist that every project be a thread of comedy gold,you have quite a fair share of recent clunkers on your resume,one of which was The Man. My sister made me see it when it was in theaters,mainly due to your co-starring appearance(her favorite SCTV character is Sid Dithers)and she still apologizes to this day.
I took a good look at your IMDB listing and right smack on top,it says that you're making "American Pie 5:The Naked Mile." American Pie 5?!!! Bad enough that I had to risk searing my eyeballs during American Pie 2(yet another Little Sister cinema selection that I can get an instant"I'm sorry" for)which was not only low on humor but had a literally phoned-in performance by Mena Suvari! You could clearly see in the girl's eyes that she was thinking"Gee,how much can I not do and still cash a big paycheck here?".
Some movies are just for the money,I get that-nothing wrong with paying the bills and hanging with Queen Latifah or Steve Martin doing that as a bonus. Who wouldn't want to be working with Samuel L. Jackson,even in a movie with meat fart jokes? But when you're doing these direct-to-video schlockfests,it's sad to see a man of your talents having to play Mr. Goofy Parent. Yes,I know all about those Christopher Guest movies that you make with your friends and they're great(and I'm sure that your new film,For Your Consideration, will gather up the usual critical praise).
However,most of the younger generation is discovering you in the likes of Dumb and Dumber:When Harry Met Lloyd and New York Minute with the Olsen twins,who have a wide audience for some damn reason. Perhaps they were originally triplets and the extra one was sacrificed to Satan for fame and fortune-that wouldn't surpise you,would it?
Anyway,my point is-do it for the kids,Eugene! Please let them see you in something that doesn't hit the low expectations level that Hollywood loves to spoonfeed them!
You and your fellow SCTV folk are some of the best comedic treasures around and while it may be too late to help Marty Short(who can't resist a chance to dunk himself in makeup-why else be in Santa Clause 3?),you're still a guy who can make laughs seem effortless. Look at it this way-you don't want to be Rob Schneider. Even Rob Schneider doesn't want to be Rob Schneider.
I know you care about the young people,especially after I saw this moving PSA:
So,hopefully,you'll think twice before considering an offer for American Pie 7.
Thanks and look forward to seeing you in better films,
Lady T and every other SCTV fan out there
5 comments:
Hopefully Mr. Levy will take the time to read your heartfelt plea before his career gets completely flushed down the crapper ... The best things I've liked him in lately have been the Christopher Guest movies (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind), but other than that, it's been a pretty downhill slide since "SCTV"
Five? Five?!? Where was I for American Pie 3 and 4? Jeez.
I only saw AP1. Humorous, but not side-splitting.
And, yes, those Chris Guest movies are pretty clever.
Jake,American Pie 3 was called American Wedding and AP4:Band Camp was a direct to video release. I didn't even see AP1 and seriously doubt that doing so would've made AP2 any better.
RF(hope you don't mind my calling you by those initials),thanks. It's a shame when good comedians are trapped in bad movies.
Happens to a lot of them, though. Lots of the Saturday Night Live stars made great choices at the beginning of their movie careers, then totally lost their minds.
It hurts when funny people lose their funny. You know it's still in there somewhere, if only someone would send them the right script.
Good lord, I hadn't heard that #5 was alive... how dreadful.
I walked out of the FIRST American Pie, and never looked back. Would that Levy had my wisdom; and would that I had Levy's money...
He can be so good; especially when paired with Catherine O'Hara (whom I worship).
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