Daniel Stern is the friend in the group who is not quite enjoying himself, and the burglar who takes the fall, and he plays both without asking to be liked. He is best in company; on his own, as a voice, he tends to explain.
Fi1m perspective
Watch him in a group scene and he is usually the one slightly out of temper. In Diner (1982), his Shrevie is irritated where the others are merely idle, and that irritation is what stops Barry Levinson's company of young men from becoming too cosy. In City Slickers (1991), Phil Berquist gives Billy Crystal something to push against, a friend who knows how to get a laugh at his expense and does not mind taking one back. Stern does not play the funniest man at the table. He plays the man the funniest man needs.
The career runs in a straight line from that. He began in Breaking Away (1979) and broke through in Diner, which put him among the young actors of the early 1980s. Then came the two parts most people know him for, Marv in Home Alone (1990) and Phil in City Slickers, each with a sequel, in 1992 and 1994. At the same time he was the adult Kevin narrating The Wonder Years (1988–93) and directing some of its episodes, and Rookie of the Year (1993) was his first feature as director. Since then it has been character parts, voice work, including Dilbert, two films for Woody Allen, and television, most recently For All Mankind (2019–).
Home Alone is the best case for what he does with his body. He and Joe Pesci supply the two adults the plot needs to punish, and neither is too grand to look thoroughly foolish. We laughed at a grown man being hurt by a child's traps, again and again, and then felt slightly guilty about it, because Stern never once asks for our sympathy; he gets up and takes the next fall. The timing is the work, and it is partnership work, done opposite Pesci. Stern has said of his method, "I don't exactly know how I work or develop a character. But it doesn't involve a lot of history." It shows, and mostly to his credit. He plays the scene in front of him.
The weakness is the voice. The adult viewpoint in The Wonder Years is a good idea, and Fred Savage's Kevin is uncertain and awkward in ways that hold our attention, but Stern's narration keeps telling us what Savage's face has already settled. Some of that is Neal Marlens and Carol Black's writing, which pushes the lesson. Some of it is the delivery, which is warm and tidy where the boy is neither. Away from the group, and away from his own body, he is a less interesting actor.
Start with Diner, where the writing lets him be difficult. Go on to Home Alone for the falls. The narration comes bundled with the series, and you will have to put up with it.
Biography
Daniel Stern is an American actor. Born in Bethesda, Maryland, he began acting professionally at the age of seventeen and appeared in early films including Breaking Away (1979), Diner (1982) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).
He is known for his roles as Marv in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and as Phil Berquist in City Slickers (1991). Stern provided the voice of the adult narrator for the television series The Wonder Years (1988–1993) and made his feature directorial debut with Rookie of the Year (1993).
