Kristen Wiig Is The Queen Of Comedy

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Tonight I'm going to go see Masterminds, the new heist comedy starring Zach Galifianakis. Not only does the movie look like it's going to be friggin' hilarious, it's also co-starring my favorite female comic actor: Kristen Wiig. It's not surprising as she's everywhere these days. I think if you are making a comedy movie today it's in the contract that you have to use Kristen Wiig. Ever since her time on SNL she's proven to be a comedy powerhouse. She's the new Lucille Ball, in my personal opinion. When she's on screen you can't help but watch her and laugh at her quirky, sometimes deadpan delivery. Where some comedians go big to get laughs, Kristen isn't afraid to go low and use awkwardness and acute comic timing to deliver the laughs. It also helps that she's easy on the eyes. So, let's look at five of her best and most hilarious roles. 

 

Bridesmaids

This is the role that turned her from supporting funny character actress and into a leading lady. She easily anchors the movie and gives not only a hilarious performance, but also gives it real heart. We feel for her character when she feels she's losing her best friend. We root for her to get with Chris O'Dowd's character and get her shit together. For my money it doesn't get much better than her repeated attempts to drunkenly sneak into first class on a plane. 

 

Paul

This movie is an under-appreciated gem in my opinion. It's a road movie starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two British tourists traveling through America who end up harboring a fugitive alien. In this movie, Kristen plays a sheltered Christian fundamentalist woman who has some incorrect ideas about the world and science. It's truly incredible to watch Kristen deliver a character arch as the woman learns about life and the universe from the alien. She learns to swear, have sex, and that the world is more than 4000 years old. Then she hooks up with Simon Pegg.

 

Saturday Night Live: Dooneese

Kristen played a lot of great characters on SNL during arguably the last time that show was funny. But no character stood out more than Dooneese. This was the bizzare small-handed mentally not-all-there character with the huge forehead that she played so well. One thing that marks a great comic actress in my opinion is her willingness to look ugly and ridiculous. If your schtick is that you can only look good and be hot that's fine, but sometimes comedy is ugly. Kristen was more than willing to look hideous for laughs and it paid off. She arguably wouldn't be where she is today without Dooneese. 

 

Zoolander 2

This is a terrible movie, but Kristen steals the show playing the evil fashion designer Alexanya Atoz. Her costumes grow increasingly weird as the movie goes on and Kristen's twisted performance only adds to the funny. Her outfits are so weird they would make Lady Gaga say, "Damn, girl". Still, it's more than costuming that makes this a solid performance in a lackluster movie. It's almost more of a testament to an actor's abilities if they stand out in a bad movie than if they are helped along by a solid film. It shows they can go at it alone. 

 

Ghostbusters

And finally we have Ghostbusters. I also didn't like this movie and not because of the female cast. It had a weak script, bad direction from Paul Feig (who should know better), and terrible editing. Still, Kristen gave a rock solid performance as the head Ghostbuster. She goes from being a skeptic that doesn't want to have anything to do with the endeavor to their kick-ass leader. You feel real pathos between her and Melissa McCarthy, like there is a genuine past there. Maybe the next one will be better?