This past weekend, we heeded critics nationwide and went to see "Zombieland" (2009). We screamed. We laughed. We felt the strange urge to down a box of Twinkies. What impressed us most was the hysterical employment of a cameo appearance. Don't worry, we won't mention names.
Since the days of Alfred Hitchcock, who appeared in 39 of his own films, the cameo has spiced up movies with the unexpected introduction of a familiar face. Cameos might pay homage or just serve as an extended gag. Who can forget former "The Price is Right" host Bob Barker, when he head-butted Adam Sandler in "Happy Gilmore" (1996). That scene was, for lack of a better word, priceless.
Every once in a while, cameos are even powerful enough to resurrect a career. Were it not for "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" (2004), Neil Patrick Harris would be stuck voicing Saturday morning cartoons.
The HBO show "Entourage" is one of the premier cameo-users. Rooting itself in the star-studded world of Hollywood, "Entourage" features appearances by the likes of Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Kimmel and Bob Saget, just to name a few, in order to legitimize the show and ground it in Tinseltown.
On the other hand, cameos run the risk of backfiring by ruining the fantasy world a movie or TV show creates. Appearances by directors can be jarring reminders that what you're watching isn't real. Not content solely ruining films from behind the camera, director M. Night Shyamalan feels the need to insert himself in all of his films. This self-indulgence takes away from his movies, although we can list off many more things that are wrong with his recent work. We know we complained about Shyamalan last week, but if he ruins our favorite martial arts-based, animated series since "CatDog" by casting himself as a Sky Bison in his upcoming, live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (2005), we will never forgive him.
Furthermore, it's dangerous to place non-actors in front of the camera, precisely because of the fact that they can't act. A lot of athletes fall into this category. Take Lance Armstrong's appearance in "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" (2004), for example.
We've got to hand it to the guy; he's a man who lost one of his nearest and dearest friends to cancer, but still managed to beat a bunch of Frenchies at their own game. Despite this, we cringed when a wooden Armstrong encouraged Vince Vaughn to return to the Average Joes dodgeball squad. Sorry Lance, but stick to yellow wristbands and bicycles.
For cameos to work, secrecy is necessary. "The Hangover" (2009) wasted the comedic gold of its Mike Tyson bit by featuring his cameo prominently in trailers. When we first saw the cookie monster of earlobes sing Phil Collins, we laughed so hard we nearly forgot that Tyson was a vicious sexual predator. But we were so numbed by the inexorable marketing that we hardly chuckled at Tyson's scene during the actual film. The surprise of spotting Carrot Top doing a line of the booger sugar in the end credits was far more entertaining. Just don't tell Iron Mike we said this. Seriously, the dude has a facial tattoo, and not those cute little teardrop tats that Lil Wayne has.
To sum up, cameos are hit or miss. You can't just throw a celeb in front of the camera and expect a laugh. You've got to blindside the audience and write some witty, self-deprecating lines. So, here's hoping Roman Polanski shows up in the new "Twilight" installment. Just keep him away from Dakota Fanning.
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Zach Drucker and Chris Poldoian are sophomores who have not yet declared majors. They can be reached at zachary.drucker@tufts.edu and christopher.poldoian@tufts.edu, respectively.
