As they say in physics, what goes up must come down and it seems the time has come for writer, producer and director Judd Apatow to test Newton’s law first-hand. As high up on the Hollywood food chain as Apatow is, there’s only a long, bumpy ride down ahead.
After jumping around from failed kids films (“Heavy Weights”) to adult box office bombs (“The Cable Guy”) to canceled television shows (“Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared”) during most of the 1990s and the early 2000s, Apatow hit unexpected comedy gold with “The 40 Year Old Virgin” in the summer of 2005. After writing, producing and directing “Virgin,” Apatow’s talent and revealed connection to the underground cult favorite “Freaks” bought him a fair amount of credibility.
However, it was the June 2007 release of his follow-up writing and directing project “Knocked Up” that made Apatow the latest “it” guy on Sunset Boulevard. Then two months later came the success of “Superbad,” which he also produced. It seems all a potential comedy hit needs is the phrase “from producer Judd Apatow” above the title and the cat is in the bag. But with four different projects slated for release sometime this year, how long can his hot streak really last?
After his first misstep with this past December’s “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” this overexposure may spell trouble for the new comedy king.
His first test this year is “Drillbit Taylor” coming up March 21, followed by “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” on April 18 and then this summer’s “Pineapple Express.”
While Apatow’s “Drillbit Taylor” looks like a second misfire waiting to happen and the less-known stars of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” leave its fate more uncertain, “Pineapple Express” looks like another hit for his resume.
Like so many “it” writer/directors before him and Hollywood accessories in general, the flame of a hot commodity can burn out as easily as it is ignited. After a hot streak of high school comedies such as “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” as well as the best of the National Lampoon movies (“European Vacation” and “Christmas Vacation”) writer and director John Hughes faded into obscurity after his first couple of flops in the late ’80s. While he has continued to work in Hollywood on the “Home Alone” franchise films and “Maid in Manhattan” long since, it is highly unlikely he will ever be able to recapture the magic of his peak.
Then there is the more reversible sophomore slump; such was the case with another writer/director, Kevin Smith, after his black-and-white Sundance smash “Clerks” in 1994. Its follow-up, “Mallrats,” crashed and burned the next year, but Smith has since been able to bounce back (if you don’t count “Jersey Girl”).
The worst part about the vicious politics of Hollywood’s in-today, out-tonight mentality is that its not even in the control of the “it” actors, directors or writers themselves. Studios are the ones that capitalize on the surprise success of people like Apatow and then bet future projects solely on their name and associated past hits, crossing their fingers that a name will matter more than a trailer or word of mouth. They hold these temporary popular culture sensations high enough to where there is nowhere else to go but down, whether it be temporarily or permanently. In the case of Apatow, it is merely a game of wait and see to see how hard the backlash against him will be and how long it will last.
But no matter what fate critics and box office receipts hold for Apatow, hopefully his continued success or fall from grace will not deter him.
If you think Apatow shouldn’t even bother to top “Superbad,” e-mail Stanhope at kstanhope@media.ucla.edu.