I mean not liking the main actor is certainly going to skew your opinion of the film.
Carell was coming off of The Daily Show as a popular correspondent. The first season of The Office had aired, although honestly that probably didn’t build much hype. Apatow produced (with others) Anchorman, so I’m sure there was a “From the producer who brought you Anchorman” hype. So maybe a little hype before the film.
The movie itself is an excellent comedy and about a month later The Office season 2 would kick off, so Steve Carell now had a film and TV career. I could see Carell being a little overexposed at that time, but it was well earned. That’s probably the hype you’re thinking of.
I should probably clarify that those things weren’t particularly well known in the UK at the time. The main thing he was known for at that time was Evan in Bruce Almighty.
I mean not liking the main actor is certainly going to skew your opinion of the film.
Carell was coming off of The Daily Show as a popular correspondent. The first season of The Office had aired, although honestly that probably didn’t build much hype. Apatow produced (with others) Anchorman, so I’m sure there was a “From the producer who brought you Anchorman” hype. So maybe a little hype before the film.
The movie itself is an excellent comedy and about a month later The Office season 2 would kick off, so Steve Carell now had a film and TV career. I could see Carell being a little overexposed at that time, but it was well earned. That’s probably the hype you’re thinking of.
I should probably clarify that those things weren’t particularly well known in the UK at the time. The main thing he was known for at that time was Evan in Bruce Almighty.