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Smokin' Aces

Jason Bateman‘s career resurgence in the 2000s is a success story that few people even think of anymore. People don’t think of him as Family Ties star Justine Bateman’s little brother, or as the teen-heartthrob star of The Hogan Family and Teen Wolf Too. Hell, people barely remember him at the 1990s show-killer whose many attempts at finding a successful TV series crashed and burned.

2003-2004 changed everything for Bateman. The lead role in Arrested Development and the critical cred and cult appreciation that accompanied it, plus well-received supporting roles in hit Ben Stiller comedies Starsky and Hutch and Dodgeball suddenly made Bateman an established and respected comedic talent, and his enduring handsomeness meant he could play romantic leads, so: jackpot.

It’s been a generally good decade for Bateman. He’s had hits and misses (both critically and commercially) scattered among his comedy filmography, but he’s still quite cast-able, and so long as he pulls in an Identity Thief or Horrible Bosses-sized hit every so often, he should stay that way. What’s odd when you look at his filmography is how many dramas there are. Not necessarily odd that a comedic actor would branch out into dramas; lots of them do. The thing is, though, Bateman hasn’t been good in any of them. He hasn’t been terrible, but he hasn’t given a performance in any of the dramas in his filmography that would make anyone think “THAT. I want to see that again.” And yet here we are with from Bateman’s latest drama, The Gift, which opened nationwide this weekend. The reviews have been good — kind of insanely so given how ridiculous the trailer looked — and the box office results were quite respectable for a low budget movie ($12MM and change). So, maybe this is finally be the movie that answers the question, “Are dramas really what we have Jason Bateman for?”

Let’s take a look at his attempts at being a believable dramatic actor.

Moving Target (1988)

This maybe deserves an asterisk, as it was a TV movie, but it’s the earliest example we have of Bateman going dramatic. This time it was for an NBC movie of the week, starring Bateman as a teen whose parents go missing, possibly having to do with the mob. Bateman’s co-stars were Chynna Phillips, Jack Wagner, and John Glover. This was right in the middle of Bateman’s time on The Hogan Family, so we can probably safely chalk this one up to network obligation and leave it as a curiosity, much like its Monday-night time-slot neighbor, ALF.
[Watch Moving Target on Netflix]

Smokin’ Aces (2007)

The Joe Carnahan-directed, Ben Affleck-starring crime film, which felt a bit like an American Guy Ritchie picture, featured Bateman as a chance-of-pace comic relief, which is probably how he should be utilized in dramas. I can’t imagine watching Affleck try to pull off a heist was more entertaining than watching Bateman run off at the mouth.
[Where to stream Smokin’ Aces]

The Kingdom (2007)

The same year Bateman co-starred with Peter Berg in Smokin’ Aces, he acted in Berg’s quickly-forgotten Middle-East-combat film, which didn’t make much of a dent either commercially or culturally, despite a starry cast (Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner). Bateman played an FBI intelligence analyst with all the flair of an FBI intelligence analyst, and thank God he and Jennifer Garner had Juno out later that year, or else 2007 would have been a real bummer for them.
[Where to stream The Kingdom]

Hancock (2008)

Once again, Bateman and Peter Berg teamed up, this time in an action drama (but JB’s still holding up the lighter side of things). This time, the film was led by Will Smith and Charlize Theron, and Bateman was just playing the uninteresting third wheel.
[Where to stream Hancock]

State of Play (2009)

First off, bad luck for Bateman that he was in the American remake of State of Play, which was a big step down from the original British miniseries. In the translation, the character Bateman plays lost some of his more colorful edges. He’s playing kind of a similar character to his Smokin’ Aces guy in this, but he doesn’t have nearly the room to make it pop, so once again he just comes off as a lightweight. Which isn’t a bad thing for this particular character, necessarily, but again: nothing that would make you rush to cast him in your next drama.
[Where to stream State of Play]

Up in the Air (2009)

This one feels more like Bateman doing a favor for his Juno director Jason Reitman, or that the two just wanted to work together again. Otherwise, it’s hard to see much reason why Bateman would have taken the largely thankless role of George Clooney’s barely-present boss.
[Where to stream Up in the Air]

Disconnect (2012)

After making two movies together, Bateman and Reitman went their separate ways to make two different movies about the ways in which smartphones and computers are ruining our lives. Reitman’s, Men Women & Children, was one of the worst reviewed movies by an acclaimed director in a while (0r at least since Reitman’s Labor Day). Bateman’s, Disconnect, was actually reviewed a lot better, but it made NO money, perhaps because audiences weren’t necessarily looking to see Bateman as a rage-filled father.
[Where to stream Disconnect]

And now we have The Gift, where an incredibly funny actor will be dealing with home invasion and threats against his wife. Perhaps the best we can hope is that he’ll linger in dramady for a bit more. This Is Where I Leave You was not a great template to set for his career, but his second directorial effort, The Family Fang, debuts at the Toronto Film Festival this year. Bateman and Nicole Kidman play siblings in an adaptation of a Kevin Wilson novel that has been described as “mirthful,” “screwball,” and “hilarious.” Sounds promising.

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