Life After ‘SNL’ :Carvey, Myers go their own ways after ‘World’

Kirk Baird

Monday, Aug. 5, 2002 | 8:38 a.m.

Carvey projects

For its recent weekend opening, "Austin Powers in Goldmember" set a box-office record by taking in $71.5 million.

The debut marked the largest opening box-office haul yet for a comedy.

The film's staggering take nearly $4 million more than previous comedy record-holder "Rush Hour 2" also placed its debut weekend at No. 4 all-time, behind "Spider-Man," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones."

Despite mixed reviews, "Goldmember" marks another box-office triumph for writer-star Mike Myers, whom Entertainment Weekly reported received $25 million for his effort.

Compare Myers' success with that of his former "Wayne's World" partner and "Saturday Night Live" castmate Dana Carvey's "Master of Disguise," which opened Friday.

The character-driven comedy, clearly conceived as a showcase for Carvey, was savaged by critics as both unfunny and a waste of the comedian's considerable talents.

"Such a sad irony that Dana Carvey, who's made his name bringing celebrities to life with uncanny impersonations, should make such a lifeless movie based on characters of his own creation," Associated Press film critic Christy Lemire wrote.

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert (whose reviews run in the Sun) wrote, "('Master of Disguise') is like a party guest who thinks he is funny and is wrong ... a desperate miscalculation."

Marshall Fine, national film correspondent for Gannett News Service, was similarly unimpressed with "Master of Disguise."

"I'd be surprised if it made the top 10," Fine said.

The "Saturday Night Live" alums' first taste of big-screen success was 10 years ago with "Wayne's World." Since then their careers have been marching in opposing directons: Myers is one of the most bankable comedic actors in Hollywood, while Carvey is quickly approaching the Chevy Chase status of box-office poison.

It's easy to see why.

Turkeys include 1990's "Opportunity Knocks," which marked Carvey's first starring role, as well as 1994's "Clean Slate," "Trapped in Paradise" and "Road to Wellville." The four films combined for a box-office total of more than $30 million, less than half of "Goldmember's" opening weekend take.

Fine recently interviewed Carvey, and inquired whether his lack of film success was bothersome to the comedian.

"I asked him: 'Do you have any movies you wish more people had seen?' He said, 'No.'"

It's a poor representation for the 47-year-old Carvey, who was a household name in 1993 when he left "SNL" after seven seasons.

The comedian's dead-on impersonations of political figures (the elder President Bush and Ross Perot) and TV personalities (Johnny Carson and John McLaughlin of the "McLaughlin Report") were show highlights.

But the piously goofy Church Lady, whose menacing questioning of celebrity guests ended in accusations they were in league with Satan, was his break-out role.

"I've always wondered what would have happened if Dana Carvey made the Church Lady movie," Fine said. "That was always a funny character."

Meanwhile, Myers, 39, who joined the "SNL" cast in 1989, developed several popular characters other than Wayne: Dieter, the black-clad tempermental host of the German avant-garde series "Sprockets"; Linda Richman, Barbra Streisand-loving, Yiddish-speaking host of "Coffee Talk"; and Simon, the cheeky British boy who hosted a show while soaking in a bubble bath.

Together, Myers and Carvey sparked a national sensation on the skit "Wayne's World."

Myers played Wayne Campbell, a teenage metal-head with his own cable access show, which was broadcast in the basement of his parents' home.

Carvey was Garth Algar, Wayne's nerdy best pal, who sported a pair of oversized horn-rim glasses and had a pair of drumsticks (but never a drum kit) at the ready.

Originally a throwaway skit (meaning it was relegated to the final half hour of the 90-minute show) "Wayne's World" quickly gained popularity.

Catchphrases -- "Party On," "Schwing!" and the ever-popular ironic putdown "Not!" (as in, "Suzanne Somers is a good actress -- Not!") -- became standard expressions in schools and universities nationwide.

The comedy made nearly $122 million on the big screen, and remains the most successful film based on an "SNL" sketch. That might not be saying much, however, given the show's spotty history of transferring skits to film.

"Blues Brothers" was a moderate box-office success, but that wasn't the case with such flops as "Coneheads," "Stuart Saves His Family," "A Night at the Roxbury" and the straight-to-video horror "It's Pat."

Carvey's catastrophes

A year after "Wayne's World" was released, Carvey left the cast of "Saturday Night Live." Myers followed two seasons later.

The two released "Wayne's World 2" in 1993. The comedy suffered from script problems, with rewrites hastily being done during filming. It grossed only $47 million (about a third of the original) at the nation's cinemas.

Rumors also persisted that during the sequel's filming, Carvey and Myers' relationship was not nearly as chummy as that of their onscreen counterparts.

True or not, the two have not worked together since.

Instead, Myers went solo in the 1993 dark comedy "So I Married an Axe Murderer." The film received so-so reviews and did only $11.5 million at the box office.

Carvey, meanwhile, was plagued by his aforementioned string of flops in 1994.

"The best stuff (Carvey) did on 'Saturday Night Live' had a real political edge to it, and he has never followed up to it in the movies," Fine said. "I think if he did something with more of an edge, I think it would be more successful."

Instead, the comedian retreated to the friendly confines of the small screen with the comedy-variety program "The Dana Carvey Show."

The show premiered in March 1996 on ABC, and from the beginning it seemed destined for a quick death.

Sponsors, such as Taco Bell, were routinely lampooned during the program, and the show's sketches routinely stretched the boundaries of good taste, such as a scatological takeoff of "The Wizard of Oz."

It wasn't long before advertisers and ratings for "The Dana Carvey Show" had mostly vanished. The program was canceled two months after its debut.

Other than playing himself in a small independent film, "The Shot," in 1996, and a cameo as a referee in Adam Sandler's "Little Nicky" in 2000, Carvey has been absent from the big screen.

The actor has been content to the occasional stand-up comedy tour and to spend time with his family: his wife of 19 years, Paula, and their two sons, Dex, 9, and Thomas, 7.

He also has been recovering from a botched double-bypass surgery to remove blockage in an artery, during which the surgeon operated on the wrong artery. (Carvey subsequently sued and won an unspecified amount, which he donated to charity.)

"It was five years ago and I'm fine now," Carvey recently told the Associated Press. "But it just makes you kind of live in the moment and not take yourself so seriously. All your narcissism and vanity and ego -- all those things recede into the background."

Magnificent Myers

Myers, however, has experienced better luck. In 1997 he released "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." The film, a spoof of James Bond and other spy movies, featuring a dentally challenged, sexually charged super spy, was a minor success at the box office, raking in nearly $54 million.

Once released to video, though, the film became a phenomenon, ranking as one of 1998's top sellers and rentals.

The actor-comedian followed "Powers" that same year with a dramatic role in "54," in which he played Steve Rubell, the real-life, co-founder of the notorious New York disco night spot Studio 54.

Critics were not kind to the film or to Myers.

USA Today film critic Susan Wloszczyna called Myers' performance, "a feat of overacting that would border on genius -- Al Pacino-'Scarface' class -- if it weren't so embarrassing to watch."

In all, "54" earned a little more than $16.5 million at the box office.

Also in 1998 Myers had small roles in two forgettable, low-budget films: "Pete's Meteor" and "The Thin Pink Line."

It was the 1999 Austin Powers sequel, "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," that placed Myers atop the Hollywood A list.

The film opened July 25 with a $57.5 million take, on its way to a whopping $205 million domestic take so far.

Myers continued his string of box-office success last summer with the animated "Shrek," a box-office behemoth with a $267 million take. Myers voiced the titular character, a lovable-but-gruff ogre, along with Eddie Murphy as a donkey and Cameron Diaz as a not-quite-so-helpless princess in distress. All three are returning for a sequel, due in 2004.

And next year Myers has two projects already in the works: "A View From the Top," a comedy about airline attendants in which Myers has a cameo as a flight instructor, and "The Cat in the Hat," in which the comedic talent takes on the title role.

Different styles

In 2000 Myers was commissioned by Universal to create a big-screen adaption of his Dieter character from "SNL" titled "Sprockets." Myers was to be paid $21.5 million for his efforts. But the writer-actor canned the project, saying he wasn't happy with the script.

This led to a lawsuit by Universal over breach of contract, as well as the film's producers, Imagine, to recoup their investment. Myers countersued for fraud and defamation of character.

All parties settled out of court, with Myers agreeing to do an as-yet-unnamed film for Universal and Imagine in place of "Sprockets."

"I think he's been a little more selective in what he's done" than Carvey, Fine said. "He hasn't made too many bad movies."

Plus, the film critic said, Myers has an advantage when it comes to movies because he is a gifted writer as well.

"Mike Myers is a character comedian, so he knows how to create a funny character and then to create a whole story around it," Fine said.

And Carvey?

"To be honest, I think he's probably a better stand-up comic than a movie actor," he said. "Richard Pryor is another one like that. His best films were his stand-up concerts; he never found a movie that could show off what he did as a stand-up."

Fine renders the same verdict when comparing the two actor-comedians' new films.

" 'Austin Powers' was a lot funnier than 'Master of Disguise,' " he said. "It made me laugh. But I didn't think it was as strong a film as the other two ("Powers" movies). But 'Master of Disguise' was a bore from start to finish.

"(Carvey) said he did this movie for kids. But I can't imagine a kid much younger than 8 really liking it."

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