Better Late Than Never for Vintage Paula Shore in "The Guest House"

My dad sent me an article earlier today about a movie on Netflix called "Guest House". I watched it, and while it certainly isn't the best movie I've ever seen, it did make me laugh. The movie is very simple, it's 84 minutes long and the people involved seemed to be having fun when they made it. My main takeaway from this movie was Pauly Shore. Shore is the guest in the new house of the young couple, and Shore is doing his thing here. And that is what I want to touch on today.

Pauly Shore has his warts, I'm sure he had/has some issues he has to deal with and he continues to play the same character over and over and over again. He is, and will always be, The Weasel. That was his persona in the 90's, especially when he would appear on MTV. He was always "wheezing the juice" and calling himself "The Weasel". That is how I grew to know him and that was who he played in his roles in the movies. He went so far as to call himself The Weasel in the movie "Encino Man". Along with the MTV appearances, "Encino Man" really vaulted Shore into the spotlight. You couldn't turn on any music channel or go see a comedy without some kind of Pauly Shore influence. And let me tell you, as a kid, I loved "Encino Man", and it was all due to Shore being in it. I thought he was the funniest dude in the world. That continued when I saw "Son in Law" and "In the Army Now". Shore got to do his thing and it worked for a time. It wasn't until I saw the movie "Bio-Dome" that I felt a little too old for his schtick. I was kind of over the whole "Weasel" thing. It wasn't until he showed up on an episode of "Workaholics" that I remembered what made him so funny to me. But in that single episode he was kind of making fun of himself. He didn't want to be that guy anymore it seemed.

Then I saw "Pauly Shore is Dead" and I kind of got back into Pauly Shore's whole deal. He was doing a sendup of The Weasel and I was here for it. I like when actors are able to make fun of themselves. It shows humility and humor. Shore didn't do much after that movie, but he did do a short film where he played Richard Simmons. I was kind of hoping for a full length movie, but what we got in that eight minute movie was pretty great. I wrote about it on this site when the short film came out. I was truly blown away by what Shore did in that short amount of time. I couldn't see anyone other than Shore playing Simmons in a biopic. I really wanted it to happen, but it didn't, and it looks like it will never happen. But then I saw "Guest House" today, and he reverted to The Weasel, but in a good way.

The Weasel was needed for this movie. It wouldn't have worked any other way. He is all boozed and drugged up throughout this entire movie, and the viewers need him to be funny. I was a little relieved that he went back to what made him so famous. I kind of like seeing this older Weasel. Sure, he is too old to be doing this type of thing, but that is what makes his performance work in "Guest House". He is supposed to be pathetic. We should not be looking to him as the savior of the movie. He is the one who starts all the conflict and we, the viewer, are supposed to be annoyed by him. The Weasel is annoying and kind of lame. Shore does that great here.

What I love most about Pauly Shore is that he is okay to be pigeonholed as The Weasel. Other actors look at being typecast as a bad thing. Shore understands that this character he can do so well is what will keep him working. He has found his niche and he has made it work his entire career. He doesn't have to take on different stuff. We don't need him to do dramatic stuff. He doesn't need to be some "revelation" in an award worthy movie. What he does works for comedy and he does it as good as anyone in Hollywood. I appreciate that from him. He doesn't care and that is a nice thing.

Like him or not, Pauly Shore has found what he does best and he has run away with it. He will be more appreciated when he's not acting anymore, and I'm sure he's okay with that. I guess I'm just here to say, I'm a Pauly Shore fan and I don't want to hide from it anymore. Now maybe I'll go revisit some of his earliest roles. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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