Sometimes we forget, but Chris Pratt appeared in the same year in one of the best and one of the worst movies of the 21st century

Chris Pratt’s career is, why not say it openly, disappointing. He shot to fame as the funny Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation, only to end up hitting the gym, becoming a superman (literally) and leaving comedy aside, focusing exclusively on the most cheesy action and science fiction films. No, it’s not a randomly chosen adjective: I invite you to watch Electric State and No Mercy, and see if after the experience you can come up with another one. However, in 2013 his career seemed to be heading in a very different direction. That year, in fact, he achieved something almost impossible: making one of the best and one of the worst movies of the century. That’s quite an achievement.

Stuck in the elevator

You may not remember Movie 43, and I won’t be the one to blame you. The film is a collection of the most grotesque sketches possible featuring all the big names in Hollywood, for some reason, from Hugh Jackman to Richard Gere, including Halle Berry and Kirsten Dunst, directed by up to 15 directors such as James Gunn or Bob Odenkirk. With this cast, one might imagine that it would be an incredible comedy… until you see Jackman with two testicles hanging from his chin or a woman being eaten by a shark while on her period. Things from 2013.

The sketch starring Chris Pratt alongside his then-wife Anna Faris was about a girl who reveals to her boyfriend that she is coprophilic and wants him to defecate on her in bed. He takes a laxative and wants to finish as soon as possible, which makes her angry and leave the house: he gets hit by a car and starts to… uh… “evacuate” everywhere. He, covered in his own feces, proposes to her, and she accepts, saying it’s the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. This is the level, wow. Ew.

Movie 43 was a box office success, but it went down in history as one of the most disgusting movies in cinema history. Interestingly, almost a year later (from January to December), another movie starring Chris Pratt was released that is, indeed, a true gem to highlight: Her. Yes, we all remember Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson’s voice as the AI that his character fell in love with, but Pratt also had a good supporting role. The movie made less money than Movie 43 (that’s just how it is) but went down in history as a contemporary gem that, in the age of ChatGPT, is worth revisiting: what was once science fiction is now part of everyday life.

The following year, coinciding with the end of Parks and Rec, Pratt starred in Guardians of the Galaxy and voiced the main character in The LEGO Movie, immediately making him Hollywood’s golden boy. In 2015, Jurassic World ensured his face was everywhere. Few wanted to dig deeper and discover that two years earlier he had been covered in excrement in the wildest movie, probably, of the century. And it’s a shame, because the most interesting part of his filmography is at the beginning, when he dared to appear in things like Jennifer’s Body, Zero Dark Thirty, or Moneyball. Getting buff was the beginning of the end of his charisma… And many of us still miss him. Is it too late to stop making millions and care a little more about leaving a good legacy?