What the hell has happened to Seth Rogen? He was brilliant as Ken on Freaks and Geeks and dominated American film in the 2000s as an actor, writer and producer on the sets of such films as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Donnie Darko, Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express and Funny People. Nowadays, however, Rogen is serving up comedy that does not echo the brilliance of his work yesteryear.
The Green Hornet, whilst financially successful, is a poor attempt at reviving a known superhero onscreen. Rogen, in many ways, needs to be held accountable for this, as he holds writing and acting credits in the film. Similarly, Rogen opted to appear in Paper Heart, a haphazard rom-com/mockumetary released in 2009 that did nothing for his career. In the same year, Rogen appeared as Ronnie in Observe and Report, a lukewarm black comedy about bipolar and mall security. Sure, this year's release of 50/50 deviates from Rogen's most recent work. It is a strong dramedy about the perils of cancer and demonstrates Rogen's knack for producing films. Simialrly, his voice credits have grown over the last decade and have been widely recognised in the Kung Fu Panda series and Paul, both of which are critically acclaimed. In amongst these odd credible credits, however, rest some stinkers. His voice artistry wasn't enough to save the mess that was Horton Hears a Who! and did little to help Monsters vs. Aliens, an overrated DreamWorks/Paramount project. All of this said, the most troubling project Rogen has been involved with during the course of the last five years has been Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The film not only signalled Smith's decline and the rise of Judd Apatow's cinema as the new, true voice of American youth culture, but it also marked Rogen's willingness to help market Smith's film (1) in the age of Apatow and (2) because his cinema is slowly dating.
Maybe I'm being a little too harsh on Rogen. That being said, I am waiting for a return to the glory days of Freaks and Geeks. His appearance on such television shows as The Simpsons and Family Guy are all sure signs of an actor that has lost his artistry in the process of becoming more commercIally viable. Give us something, Seth!
By Chris Traficante