Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Peter Segal, whose latest project "My Spy: The Eternal City" releases on Prime Video tomorrow.
Peter Segal's Filmography Ranked:
10.Second Act (D+)
9.The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (D+)
8.Grudge Match (C+)
7.Anger Management (C+)
6.50 First Dates (B)
5.My Spy (B)
4.The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (B)
3.Get Smart (B)
2.The Longest Yard (B+)
1.Tommy Boy (B+)
Top Dog: Tommy Boy (1995)
Chris Farley didn't get many chances to take his talents to the big screen before he died, but he was able to hit one home run with those opportunities. Tommy Boy was the perfect vehicle for his brand of chaotic, silly humor as he played a lovable idiot and got to play off his longtime comedy partner David Spade-who probably doesn't get enough credit for how much he contributed to the laughs here.
Bottom Feeder: Second Act (2018)
Despite a serviceable effort from Jennifer Lopez in the lead role, Second Act is a corny, contrived dramedy that never even comes close to selling its premise of a big box store employee in her late 40's (Lopez) who suddenly gets hired by a major cosmetics company after her godson (Alan Aisenberg) creates her a new, embellished resume online in the wake of her getting unfairly passed up for a work promotion.
Most Underrated: The Longest Yard (2005)
Following Adam Sandler's legendary run that he closed out the 90's on (Billy Madison, Happy Gillmore, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Big Daddy), things started to get pretty rough for the Sandman as the quality of his comedies became much more erratic at the dawn of the new millennium and eventually it got to the point where he left the theatrical space for Netflix in late 2015. One of the select few comedies of his released during the 21st century that I find to be at least pretty close to the level of his starmaking 90's run is The Longest Yard. Reuniting with his old SNL pal Chris Rock, filling out the supporting cast with some legit scene stealers (Terry Crews, Bob Sapp, original star Burt Reynolds) and having a pair of diabolical villains (William Fitchner, James Cromwell) at the center of the story did wonders for Sandler's efforts to put his own spin on the 1974 cult classic.
Most Overrated: None
Segal has made exactly 2 movies (Tommy Boy, 50 First Dates) that are viewed highly enough to even flirt with meeting the overrated criteria and I don't disagree with the praise that either of them received. Congrats on your perfect journeyman comedy director career Mr. Segal.
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