Steve Carell

I stumbled across a much loved film last night on one of the streaming services. Few people have seen The Way, Way Back, but I love this treasure of a sleeper film, where Duncan  (Liam James) goes on his summer holidays with his mother (Toni Collette) and her new, wanker boyfriend Trent, played with just the right mix of vulnerability and psychopathy, by Steve Carell. It also has the inimitable Sam Rockwell playing Owen, an employee at the local water park who takes Duncan under his wing. Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph and AnnaSophia Robb round out a great cast. 

But my eye always goes back to Steve Carell, who is brilliant in this. Horrible, bitter, flawed and generally tragic, and Carell brings all of this out. 

I love Steve Carell - but I love him most when when he's not in pure comedic roles.

Look at him in Crazy Stupid Love, where he was the everyman divorcing dad. Okay, it's a comedy, but he does such a great job at trying to be a good man while trying to get on with his life. 

He was just evil in Foxcatcher, complete with the prosethetics. 

He made a convincing Donald Rumsfeld in Vice. 

And just stunning in Beautiful Boy, as a father trying to help his son through drug addiction. 

And of course, he was the depressed, gay uncle in Little Miss Sunshine.

And let's not forget him as the new widower negotiating his family in Dan in Real Life.

And of course, though it is technically a comedy, he's so damned loveable in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. 

I just like that he always gives a fantastic performance, no matter what he's in. 

And that he always surprises you. He's not just a one trick pony - and people forget this. 

Today's Song: