Complaint Rocker

"Alas, as Wet Hot American Summer and Anchorman recede further into the distance, so does Rudd's brief moment as an absurdist showman in the movies. In interviews, there's a wistfulness in the way Rudd talks about the two movies, and for good reason—they were the last time his role, and the movie he was in, was truly, delightfully weird. In a way, Rudd's career reflects the bifurcation of contemporary American comedy. The two dominant strands of the genre are the by-the-numbers bro-fest (besides the Apatow male-bonding movies, think Wedding Crashers and The Hangover) and the absurdist genre parodies (think Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Walk Hard, in which Rudd had a hilarious cameo as John Lennon). Rudd, at home in the latter, keeps showing up in the former.'

Elbert Ventura in Slate argues that recent roles have wasted Paul Rudd's talents.