In case you have not been made aware, there has been a commercial circulating featuring Ryan Anderson, Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans encouraging fans to purchase a ticket package. Before I go any further, please watch the clip. You will not be sorry.
To understand its context, here is the original commercial for Frankie and Johnny’s Furniture in which it is based on:
I have a lot of different thoughts on this. You know what, screw it. We are going to bust out an in-depth analysis on this bad boy.
0:03: Anderson comes out with his finger-guns-a-blazing, letting the audience know that he is not taking this role for granted. There is no such audience that does not respond to finger-guns and Anderson uses this technique to his advantage.
“I always knew about my acting skills,” Anderson told The Times-Picayune. “I just needed a time to present them to the world. Thank God for the Pelicans organization for putting that together and thinking about me for that role.”
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0:05: As if the audience was not already sold on Anderson’s performance, he throws in a complimentary finger-gun-to-wink combo that only few in the “biz” are able to execute. One can only pause the video at this point and wonder what the hell is going on.
0:07: Is that the original woman from the first commercial?!?!
0:09: This shot looks like something out of Everybody Loves Raymond with Anderson being Brad Garrett and the elderly lady as Doris Roberts.
0:10: Finger-gun alert!!!! Anderson really put the time into studying Frankie’s acting style in the original commercial. He is purposely not looking into the camera to resemble Frankie. This kind of attention to detail is why Anderson should be the front-runner to win the Oscar for “Best Performance by an Athlete.”
0:11: Woah, woah, woah! Can someone tell Davis that he actually didn’t have to smoke prior to shooting? It’s just a prop, Mr. Brow! Also, it is no coincidence that he is playing the role of the “Special Man” in this scenario (insert mainstream compliment on Davis being amazing at the game of basketball here).
0:13: Evans makes his first appearance and I must say, that his performance leaves me wanting a little more. There is nothing wrong with his execution, the little smirk he has on his face makes me feel good as a member of the audience, but he just fell short in some areas.
The “Noooooo problem!” guy in the original has a severe case of the crazy eyes. Evans could have easily replicated this and added ten percent more humor to the entire production. I guess next time he should form a study group with Anderson prior to shooting.
0:15: If Anderson still hasn’t won you over yet… I mean, come on. Check out the footwork as he glides closer to the camera. A little bit more side to side hip rotation would have been appreciated, but hey, even the greats can’t always get everything right.
0:16: What accent is he speaking in?!
“…He’s an interesting character. I’ve never really seen anyone like him. He has sort of a Jersey accent,” Anderson added later.
Ohhhhhh, it’s a Jersey accent! Not exactly Tony Soprano-esque, Ryan, but I guess we will take it.
0:17: One final set finger-guns to send us off right! Holster those bad boys for next year, Frankie!!
The remainder of the clip is a repeat performance from Davis and Evans (I am 99 percent sure they used the same footage they used earlier) with a quick cameo from the fake Doris Roberts.
Long live Ryan Anderson‘s acting career, long live Frankie and Johnny’s furniture sale and most of all, long live anything that involves finger-guns-a-blazing!