This is also true of Allan: He does not fit into life’s preestablished boxes, and that is his power. He is a non sequitur of a human being, and yet he possesses a certain dignity. Wally briefly pops up in the David Lynch television sequel to say philosophical things that make no damn sense while looking like Marlon Brando in The Wild One. While Allan’s thing is that he’s basically a blank space, he does develop his own mystique as the movie progresses, a trick Cera also pulled off in what many (okay, probably just me) consider his greatest role: Wally Brando in Twin Peaks: The Return. While he obviously didn’t achieve the True Allan Singularity until playing this role, there were shades of Allan lurking in many of Cera’s previous performances.Īllan’s personality is Cera walking with his head down after Ann dumps George-Michael on Arrested Development.Īllan-energy (Allanergy?) can be found in every absurdist PA announcement Cera used to make on Childrens Hospital. (“Attention, staff: There has to be more to life than this.” God, that’s so Allan.)Īllan’s paradoxical low-key panic matches the tone in Cera’s voice in Superbad when he asks upon looking at a fake ID that says McLovin, “Who are you, Seal?” There is “just Allan.” And there may be no actor better equipped to capture Just Allanness than Michael Cera, one of the most gifted deadpan deliverers of the modern era. Helen Mirren, the narrator of Barbie, notes there are no multiples of Allan. They are effortlessly, hilariously unremarkable. Allan becomes one of the best parts of Barbie because he, and Cera, are not trying too hard. Wait, non-spoiled milk doesn’t really smell like anything. If Ken smells like a combination of Axe body spray, fragile masculinity, and boy sweat - and I believe, deep in my soul, that he does - Allan smells like non-spoiled 2 percent milk. While Ken’s personality is beach, Allan’s personality is empty sandbox. If Allan were an emoji, he would definitely be this one: □. He is the parentheses in the sentence of life. No, as Barbie emphasizes, there is only one Allan (two L’s), and it’s the one who was introduced in the 1960s with a rainbow-striped shirt, a conspicuous air of awkwardness, and a personality that is, even now, TBD.Īllan is a vibe, if having no vibe counts as a vibe. That one has a mullet and looks like he just walked off set after crushing his guest appearance on an episode of Full House. Taken off the market after about two years, a follow-up Allan was introduced in the 1990s, but his name was spelled Alan, and that obviously is not the same guy. First released in 1964 and touted as “Ken’s buddy” who can fit into all of Ken’s clothes, Allan has been described over the years as a discontinued flop, gay-coded, and maybe some other adjectives that I can’t be bothered to come up with, because this is Allan we’re talking about here and who has the time? Like all the Mattel-inspired characters in Greta Gerwig’s toy de force, Allan is based on a real doll - a real, extremely forgettable doll. He wears a headband evocative of Johnny Lawrence crushes his power-ballad theme song, “I’m Just Ken” and radiates with the Ken-ergy he spoke of so often during the Barbie press tour.īut we are not here to talk about Gosling or any of the other Kens in this movie. He is the parentheses in the sentence of life.īy now you’ve probably heard or concluded for yourself that Ryan Gosling is incredible in Barbie. While there was never any rule against improvising on set, the players of "Arrested Development" honestly felt that their scripted dialogue required little improvement.Allan is a vibe, as long as “having no vibe” counts as a vibe. However, the intricacy inherent to an "Arrested Development" gag often left little room for input on behalf of the cast. After all, hilarious shows like " Curb Your Enthusiasm" and " Reno 911" are well-regarded for their casts' ability to freely improvise jokes, often eschewing a scripted approach altogether. Clearly, the show's stacked cast only aided in its effortless ability to land jokes, making some viewers wonder if the on-screen talent generated as many memorable lines as the folks in the writer's room. Whether your mind drifts toward "good for her!" or "there's always money in the banana stand," you're bound to recall an absolutely stellar example of punch-line prowess and comedic delivery. Arguably one of the best TV comedies of all time, every single episode of " Arrested Development" is brimming with memorable dialogue.
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