I had a completely unexpected reaction when reading the latest Kevin James news. Why I don’t know, but I did. I like James perhaps more than I should. Despite the pedestrian set up of King of Queens, he and Leah Remini had good chemistry on the show and James was pretty reliable for a laugh. He’s also generally a relaible wing man for comedies and I caught a couple of his stand up routines on TV that I also liked for the most part. Also, if it weren’t for James’ amiable demeanor, Paul Blart would have been a complete abortion instead of just a miscarriage.
But checking out the latest story on James in the Hollywood Reporter, I had a reaction that I was disappointed, and just really didn’t give a crap. James is set to co-star with Vince Vaughn in an untitled cheating comedy for Ron Howard. The story follows a man (Vaughn) who learns that his best
friend’s wife is cheating and must then navigate treacherous waters
to decide what do with that knowledge. James is playing the best
friend. Imagine’s Brian Grazer, who came up with the idea, is producing
with Vaughn, who produced via his Wild West Picture Show Prods.
What made me more blase than usual about word that Vaughn and James were starring together, is that I’d be interested in seeing James try something new rather than just crank out yet another buddy romp. His last few major films: the comedies Blart and Chuck & Larry. His upcoming films: the comedies Grown Ups and The Zookeeper, the latter with talking animals. Just once, I’d like to see him play a complete asshole, a killer, an alcoholic. Something.
That expectation may be irrational considering the career James has already carved out for himself and what he seems comfortable doing, but that was my reaction.