Ed Helms says he and his comedy peers draw inspiration from the funniest movies of the ‘80s.
Helms, co-starring in the new comedy “The Hangover,” ticks off “Stripes,” “Caddyshack,” “Fletch” and “Ghostbusters” as motivating him and others like him to tackle today’s big-screen comedies.
“Those movies are the reason I fell in love with this [business],” says Helms, who plays a henpecked dentist in the new R-rated comedy co-starring Bradley Cooper. “The people my age now, in comedy, that is our upbringing. It’s the reason we are where we are.”
Back in the ‘80s, the comedies often spotlighted the coolest of the cool, be it the smarmy Peter Venkman in “Ghostbusters” to the ultra suave main character in “Fletch.”
What a different two decades make.
Today’s comedies often center on lovable losers, the guys who can’t get a date for three-quarters of the movie. Think “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,” Helms says.
“Now, we’re in this anti-hero mode. Loser characters are your heroes,” says Helms, who is working on a comedy script about a group of civil war re-enactors who get sent back in time to the middle of that battle.
The same holds true for “The Hangover.”
“We’re not the cool guys. We get our comeuppance,” he says.
(Photo: Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper played buds who can’t remember what happened during a bachelor party in “The Hangover.”)
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