Wikipedia, the supreme arbiter of culture in 2016, describes the motion picture War Dogs, which was released in the US over the weekend, as an “American biographical crime war comedy film”. That’s not just a mouthful. That’s you swallowing a Chipotle burrito like a duck getting fed through a tube. It’s one of those movies that says: “This is funny, but … is it?” Jonah Hill has made a career out of starring in these sorts of movies. In Wolf of Wall Street, he got to wear funny teeth and flash a prosthetic penis, but he also got to flex his dramatic muscles while acting out a real-world cautionary tale. War Dogs forgoes the fake teeth and phallus, but lets Hill gain a bunch of weight and wear aviator sunglasses. Choosing these projects allows him to slowly move toward more serious roles. He’s not fully submerged into the dramatic world yet, but the “true story” offers the veneer of legitimacy. So is Jonah Hill really a great serious actor or is he merely the most entertaining part of a serious film? Let’s look at his “straight” work and break it down.
Rocket Science
Hill appears in this little seen Anna Kendrick dramedy about high school debate teams. He’s hardly in it enough to register.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: zero.
Glasses? Reading glasses only.
Funny People
I stand alone in believing that Funny People is not only a very worthy piece of work, but also one of Judd Apatow’s best films. Most of Hill’s scenes are a double-act with Jason Schwartzman and, curiously, he’s something of the comic relief in a movie that’s ostensibly half-comedy. I don’t even know if I can count this as dramatic work.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: zero.
Glasses? He’s playing a comedian in 2009. Of course.
Cyrus
Try as I might, I have never been much of a Duplass brothers fan. I enjoy them as actors (The League for Mark and Transparent for Jay) but their movies feel like cultural homework for upper middle class white people. The role of Cyrus isn’t a huge stretch for Hill. He’s played man-children – or in the case of Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Accepted, actual children – for most of his career. Cyrus subverts that comic persona for dramatic purposes, a choice that tends to work for actors of his ilk. Adam Sandler famously tweaked his own juvenile gimmick in Punch Drunk Love and skewered his late-period complacency in the aforementioned Funny People. Still, it’s a safer choice.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: zero.
Glasses? Nope, but plenty of ill-fitting plaid shirts, which is basically the same thing.
Moneyball
The role of Oakland A’s assistant general manager Peter Brand secured Hill his first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Moneyball is a true story and, in a sense, a tragedy, because the A’s never win the World Series – Beane’s stated objective. And yet, Jonah Hill does not once look lustily at a pile of unmarked bills or expose himself. I dare say that this is his finest performance to date, because it offers him the least amount of buffoonery. The silliest thing he does in the whole movie is wear a windbreaker with a tie.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: zero.
Glasses? He’s playing a nerd, so yeah.
Django Unchained
He’s a wacky Klansman in the funniest part of the whole movie.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: zero.
Glasses? Nope.
Klan hood: for sure.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Donnie Azof is the most memorable performance Hill’s ever given and The Wolf of Wall Street is probably the most prestigious movie he’s appeared in. Leonardo DiCaprio starring in a Martin Scorsese film practically guarantees awards season attention. But, it’s basically a comedy. Sure, it’s a pitch black one, but how am I supposed to not laugh through a movie where Rob Reiner plays Leo’s dad? Rob Reiner! That’s like hiring Spike Lee to play Tyrese’s dad. Or hiring me to play Jaden Smith’s dad. Also, minus drama points for Jonah Hill’s fake penis.
Funny wigs count: That might be his real hair.
Fake teeth count: You know it.
Gold chain count: Surprisingly, zero.
Glasses? Yup.
Fake penis: Check.
True Story
OK, this movie is literally titled True Story. I see you, Jonah Hill. I see you. Hill plays a New York Times reporter who has his identity stolen by James Franco. Excuse me, a character played by James Franco. Frankly, I’d rather see a movie where James Franco steals someone’s identity. (Full disclosure: my favorite James Franco character is James Franco.) True Story was not particularly successful creatively or financially, but it’s in the Moneyball category of Jonah Hill performances where he plays a recognizable approximation of an actual human.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: zero.
Glasses? Journalists wear glasses, so yes.
War Dogs
I take this movie about as seriously as Michael Bay’s weightlifting crime caper, Pain & Gain – as in, not at all. Jonah Hill doing Jonah Hill things is great. He’s an incredibly talented comic actor, but slapping “based on a true story” on a poster for what amounts to the arms dealer version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels doesn’t elevate the material all that much. At some point, Hill is going to have to step outside of this comfortable space that he finds himself in rather than persist in playing the sleazy court jester in biopics.
Funny wigs count: zero.
Fake teeth count: zero.
Gold chain count: A few.
Glasses? Aviators only, because he’s a cool arms dealer.
