Chris O'Dowd is a fine ensemble comedian who can make an affable supporting part worth noticing without crowding the lead. We like him most when that easy manner has something specific to do; the familiar man-child parts can grow repetitive.
Fi1m perspective
In Bridesmaids (2011), Chris O'Dowd plays Rhodes without trying to compete with the bigger comic performances around him. He has the height and the distinctive Irish accent to be noticed; the humour can stay low-key. We warmed to his affable love interest because his timing lets the niceness be funny without making it foolish. He is particularly useful in an ensemble that has no shortage of people misbehaving.
The IT Crowd (2006–2010) established him as Roy Trenneman and made the slacker persona familiar. The move into Hollywood with Bridesmaids brought that comic ease to a different kind of ensemble. With Moone Boy (2012–2015), which he created, wrote and starred in, he drew on small-town Irish childhood for his own material. The familiar overgrown-boy roles remain a limitation, though, and This Is 40 (2012) belongs to that pattern.
Paul Feig uses him well in Bridesmaids, within an ensemble led by Kristen Wiig's painfully funny performance. Yet our reservation about the film sits close to O'Dowd's contribution: the romance slows things down, and several scenes run too long. His chemistry helps, but it cannot make that part of the story as compelling as the friendships. It is still a warm, rude comedy we readily recommend.
A distinctive voice is useful in Loving Vincent (2017), in which he plays Postman Joseph Roulin, but the moving paint is the reason to watch. The film animates van Gogh's paintings with care, and simply watching the brushstrokes shift is a pleasure. Its stiff, slow investigation into the painter's death gives the performers less help. We would recommend it to someone interested in painting before someone looking for an O'Dowd performance.
State of the Union (2019), in which he plays Tom alongside Rosamund Pike, takes him into shorter-form dramatic work. It is a welcome direction for an actor whose friendly manner can too easily become the whole assignment. We would like more casting along those lines. The next script can safely assume we already find him likeable.
Biography
Chris O'Dowd is an Irish actor and comedian. He was born on 9 October 1979 in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. He studied at University College Dublin and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
O'Dowd gained attention for his role as Roy Trenneman in the Channel 4 series The IT Crowd (2006–2010). He played Officer Nathan Rhodes in the film Bridesmaids (2011). He created and starred in the Sky 1 series Moone Boy (2012–2015).
His other credits include the film The Sapphires (2012), a Broadway debut in Of Mice and Men (2014), for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and the series Get Shorty (2017–) and State of the Union. He is married to Dawn O'Porter.
