Movies Where People Pretend to Play Themselves

“Hello Mrs. Madigan. Arnold Braunshweiger.” – Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger) trying to pretend to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, Last Action Hero

Cameos by well known people have been in movies for many decades.  Sometimes those cameos are funny precisely because of who the person is.  An example is Bing Crosby appearing as a disappointed executioner in the Bob Hope comedy My Favorite Brunette (1947.)  Sometimes the cameo is even the person playing themselves, such as Bruce Willis in Ocean’s Twelve (2004.)

Every now and then, though, an actor or actress takes a role as themselves that is a lot more than just a cameo.  The plot in all of these is that they are playing an exaggerated, or even completely fictional, version of themselves.  Probably the most well known movie example is Being John Malkovich (1999.)  Jerry Seinfeld would famously do the same thing on his eponymous TV show.

You can find my posts for these movies here:

Wings of Desire (1987)

Last Action Hero (1993)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

My Name is Bruce (2006)

Hamlet 2 (2008)

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

You’ll notice both Harold & Kumar movies are here.  The third one is coming out late in 2011.  Here is the trailer for it.

On to the reviews…

Movie – Wings of Desire (1987)

Wings of Desire is a German film that was shot just before the fall of the Berlin Wall.  It touched a nerve first with its German audience, then around the rest of the world.  Some of the impact of this film has probably been lost for people who have only known a world where the wall does not exist.  It is still a movie well worth seeing, though.

Movie – Last Action Hero (1993)

Last Action Hero was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attempt to combine action and comedy together.  He did this by making fun of his own image.  Many people did not like the movie when it came out because they didn’t like seeing action movie clichés being the butt of jokes.  They wanted to see Arnold in an action move, or Arnold in a non-action comedy. 

I liked the movie when it first came out and I feel that the biggest thing wrong with it was that it was 15 years ahead of its time.  All the jokes and references would be right at home in any number of movies and TV shows that get made now.

Movie – Being John Malkovich (1999)

Being John Malkovich was my first exposure to the writing of Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.)  It would be an understatement to say that his mind works in ways that are different from most other people.  The result is some really unique movies.  This one is no exception.

Movie – Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

Back in 2004 if you would have told most people that an R-rated comedy starring two relatively unknown minority actors would be one of the funniest movies to come along in quite awhile, they would have laughed as hard as audiences did at this movie.  When I saw Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle I laughed harder than I had in years.

Movie – My Name is Bruce (2006)

The title of this movie refers to Bruce Campbell, star of many B movies, including the Evil Dead trilogy.  [You can read my review of his best movie here.]  In My Name is Bruce he gets mistaken for his Evil Dead character of Ash by a town that needs help fighting off a demon.  Both carnage and hilarity ensue.

Movie – Hamlet 2 (2008)

First, the movie Hamlet 2 is not a sequel to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.  Hamlet 2 is a play within the movie that a high school drama teacher is trying to put on to save the drama club at his school.  Think of this movie as a combination of the TV show Glee and a spoof of inspirational teacher movies.  The play Hamlet 2 can probably give Springtime for Hitler a run for its money as worst idea for a play ever.

Movie – Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is the sequel to the very funny Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.  [See my review of that here.]  This is one comedy sequel that is almost as funny as the first movie, and that’s saying something.  While I would consider the first one to be the better of the two, the second is definitely a worthy follow-up.