A Smurf Screws The Career Of Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris has the kind of talent and wicked humor to spend the rest of his life in a comfortable position in a town known for destroying people. When he was a teenager, he became typecast as television's Doogie Howser, M.D.Such pop culture embedding has ruined almost every other actor; have you seen Henry Winkler or Jimmie Walker in much in the last thirty years? After surviving that, Harris went on to a variety of projects, including a terrific turn in Starship Troopers (earning him geek cred) and a self-deprecating one in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (earning him major cool points). He's shown versatility on stage and television, and even in some clever commercials. He is one of the most likable performers working today. Now that's all going to waste, as Harris has signed on to be one of the live action puppets in the new Smurfs film ramping up with director Raja Gosnell. Perhaps Harris is at the point in his career where he feels like he wants to do kid-friendly films. That is certainly something that happens to some actors, although it's usually motivated by the fact that the actors have their own children. Since Harris is gay, I doubt that such a feeling is motivating him. Harris might be in line for a big payday, although every impression I've had of this film thus far feels lower budgeted and small. Frankly, I have no idea what motivated the guy to join this film. Perhaps Harris was overcome with a wave of nostalgia for the old television series as he was making the call to his agent, and said "yes" before thinking it through. Who knows. I haven't had a good feeling about this film since they announced that it would combine the Smurfs with actual humans, making it more like The Littles and less like a film about magical creatures that live in a beautiful, foreboding forest. Hopefully Harris knows what he's doing with this project. (Interesting side note: the word "Smurf" is in my computer dictionary, but the word "internet" isn't. Bizarre.)