Dave Chappelle can make an unscripted exchange funnier than a prepared gag because he pays attention to the person answering. We value that alert, companionable presence; his film roles have not always given it enough room.
Fi1m perspective
In Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005), Chappelle hands out concert invitations in Ohio and listens to what people make of them. A woman behind a shop counter and a college marching band get his full attention. He is quick without making everyone else look slow, and courteous without becoming dutiful. We rate him most highly here, where his jokes come out of taking an interest in somebody else rather than waiting for a chance to speak.
His film debut, as Ahchoo in Mel Brooks's Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), already shows the looseness that makes him useful in a supporting part. Brooks gives him some of the sharper lines, then leaves him oddly little to do. The film's hit rate is poor enough that this feels like a waste of someone who might have helped. By Con Air (1997), playing "Pinball" Parker, he was part of an ensemble whose willingness to commit to the nonsense made the excess tolerable.
Half Baked (1998), which he co-wrote with Neal Brennan, gave him a lead role; their sketch series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006) brought his satire of race and culture to a larger audience. Those were opportunities to determine what he performed, rather than make the most of a few lines. His later concentration on stand-up has left film appearances more occasional. As Noodles opposite Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born (2018), he provides some grounding within a film carried by its central romance and singing.
Michel Gondry gets more from this conversational ease in Block Party than Brooks manages with a handful of good lines. We were unexpectedly moved when the Ohio marching band arrived in Brooklyn, because the people Chappelle had invited were getting the day out he had promised. Gondry and Kuras hold on their faces, giving the pleasure time to register. Too often, though, the film cuts away from the songs to return to Chappelle, testing even a host this good. Begin there for his company, with the warning that anyone coming chiefly for the music may find the interruptions trying.
Biography
Dave Chappelle is an American actor and comedian. He was born on 24 August 1973 in Washington, D.C.
Chappelle made his film debut in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). He later appeared in The Nutty Professor (1996), Con Air (1997), You've Got Mail (1998), Half Baked (1998), which he co-wrote, and Blue Streak (1999). He created and starred in the sketch series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006). In 2018 he played George 'Noodles' Stone in A Star Is Born.
