Neil Patrick Harris has the comic timing to make broad characters work, though we prefer him when a director casts against his wholesome image. His darker supporting parts are a better starting point than the sitcom charm.
Fi1m perspective
An actor associated with a child-prodigy doctor is a canny choice for an intelligence officer in Starship Troopers (1997). Neil Patrick Harris brings a wholesome screen image to Colonel Carl Jenkins, and Paul Verhoeven has a clear satirical use for it. We laughed at the shameless military publicity, then felt uneasy about how hard it was trying to win us over. Harris's casting suits that mixture of comedy and discomfort, though the teenage romance drags and some of the acting tests our patience.
Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993) had made that reassuring image an obstacle as well as an asset. The move into satire offered a way out of typecasting; the later success of Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014) depended on his comic timing and willingness to commit to broad characterisation. We value that willingness, but Barney's dated attitudes towards women remain a problem. Delivering the material confidently does not make it less tiresome.
The physical and vocal demands of his stage performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014) make it difficult to dismiss him as only a television comic. In David Fincher's Gone Girl (2014), he takes the supporting dramatic role of Desi Collings. Our enthusiasm for that film rests chiefly on Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, who keep its far-fetched plotting credible. It is sharply funny and unsettling, though its cynicism sometimes needs questioning.
We would choose Gone Girl for a thriller evening, without expecting it to demonstrate everything Harris can do. It is the stronger of the two films, but Starship Troopers makes more pointed use of his screen image. That is the sort of casting we would like more of: a director recognising what audiences expect of Harris and finding a reason to question it. He need not have the largest part.
Biography
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor. Born on 15 June 1973 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he began his career as a child actor and rose to prominence playing the title role in the television series Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993).
Harris is known for his role as Barney Stinson in the series How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014). His film credits include Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers (1997), as well as appearances in Gone Girl (2014) and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). He has also performed in stage musicals and hosted the Tony Awards on several occasions.
Harris has received a Tony Award and five Primetime Emmy Awards.
