Steve Carell to take on Brigadier Gerard

Oh I do love that genuine innocence and quirky underdog charm that is Steve Carell as he dimwittedly stumbles his way through adventures. It was this very quality that made him a prime choice for Maxwell Smart in Get Smart. And now he will play the same character with a French accent in Brigadier Gerard!

Coming Soon says:

Carell will play the title character, the bravest soldier in Napoleon’s army and also the dumbest. Gerard follows Napoleon from his rise to power to his permanent exile. The comedy is based on stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

For those of you who think that name sounds familiar but can’t place it, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was responsible for the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. His lesser known Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, Napoleon describes the character “if he has the thickest head he also has the stoutest heart in my army.” In other words this impeccably dressed young Etienne Gerard is both a figure of fun and a soldier of great courage.

The webpage of the Estate of Sir Arther Conan Doyle says:

The Brigadier’s time has not yet come, probably because the perfect actor who could do justice to this dashing young man, was never found. However, his fans should not despair, for there might soon be good news to report on that subject.

And it appears Carell is that news! They have a lot of confidence in him in this, and so do I. We have already seen him do this type of character before.

Comedic actors are the highest risk to wear out their welcome. Steve Carell hasn’t done that for me yet. I have already tired of Jack Black and Jim Carrey. Could Carell be next? I hope not.

The character he plays sounds dangerously close to the Maxwell Smart archetype and I know Carell will pull this off perfectly. I just hope the repeated performance doesn’t start to wear out his schtick.

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2 thoughts on “Steve Carell to take on Brigadier Gerard

  1. p.s. Unlike Jack Black, Jim Carrey, or Will Ferrell whose characters are a hoot to watch cuz they’re so completely outrageous… but then we start to get tired of their gimmick because each new character has to be even more outrageous than the last one… and you can only do that for so long.

  2. I’m a big Carell fan and so far, he hasn’t been able to do anything wrong IMO. Even in movies that were mediocre like Evan Almighty, I still enjoyed watching Carell just cuz he’s such a likable goof w/perfect comedic timing. He’s got the awkward-moment thing down pat.

    Maybe that’s part of his charm, that he’s almost close enough to normal that people see a little bit of themselves (or someone they know) in some of his characters and their awkward situations or can at least empathize with someone who’s totally inept, but has good intentions.

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