Tim Meadows

Tim Meadows gives Brett in Dream Scenario (2023) the face of a man who has heard too many complaints and expects another. We laughed at that weariness because he makes the effort of remaining civil so recognisable. In Kristoffer Borgli's film, which starts sharply before explaining too much, Meadows needs little space to establish a person. His dry delivery suits people charged with keeping everybody else reasonable. We rate that precision, even when the surrounding film gives us less to enjoy.

The route to those supporting parts ran through ten seasons of Saturday Night Live (1991–2000) and the attempt to give Leon Phelps a feature in The Ladies Man (2000). That film's poor critical reception marked a setback, and the subsequent career has largely been in film and television supporting roles. Mean Girls (2004) gave him the beleaguered principal Mr. Duvall. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) supplied another notable ensemble part, as Sam McPherson. These are useful settings for an actor whose timing does not require a speech.

Tina Fey is a recurring collaborator, and Mr. Duvall fits Meadows's put-upon manner. But Mean Girls (2024) gives them roughly the material they had before, returning as Mr. Duvall and Ms. Norbury. We can enjoy seeing them again and still find the repetition a poor substitute for new jokes. The musical is a mixed film, and his familiar presence cannot fix its unmemorable songs or give it a reason to repeat so much of the earlier version.

The same caution applies more firmly to Jack and Jill (2011), in which he plays Ted alongside frequent collaborator Adam Sandler. Our objections to its crude humour and bullying remain; having Meadows in the cast is no reason to forgive them. He is worth seeking out, but choosing by his name alone means accepting some poor company. Start with Dream Scenario, where that weary face belongs to a film worth watching, provided its habit of explaining the joke does not exhaust your patience.