Can Jim Carrey solve SNL's Joe Biden problem?

The Ringer

"In a way, SNL’s Biden problem is a reflection of how the election itself has played out," says Alison Herman. "President Trump, and (Alec) Baldwin’s lip-pursing imitation thereof, has been the constant, setting the tone while the opposition mostly defines itself in the negative. The writers’ take on the character has zigzagged from 'tone-deaf in a blustery way' to 'tone-deaf in a senile way' to 'guy who says stuff like "malarkey,"' but none of it has truly stuck. It’s no wonder Carrey barely bothered in his first go-around. Unveiled in the season-premiere cold open and teased with a preview centered on wigcraft, Carrey’s Biden is, as my colleague Sean Yoo put it, 'less Jim Carrey as Joe Biden and more Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey while looking like Joe Biden.' Carrey has already proved his #resistance bona fides at the painter’s easel, where he’s crafted such elegant statements as 'Trump in a witch’s hat' or 'Trump eating a pile of Russia’s sh*t.' Now he’s just extending them to the firmer, far more visible ground of televised comedy. Physically, Carrey’s Biden has a wide grimace and jutting underbite that bear little resemblance to Biden’s default expression. Temperamentally, the main joke of last weekend’s debate sketch was Biden trying and failing to repress his anger, a reaction more common to home viewers of the exchange than its main Democratic participant. But there was dancing, mugging, and tape-measure-focused prop work, making this Biden familiar as a Carrey bit if not as a current presidential candidate. Most of the actual impression was accomplished by prosthetics and costuming, leaving Carrey free to be himself and reap the applause. Carrey, a Canadian, can be forgiven for not having the finest handle on American politics; the people scripting the part for him to step into, not so much."

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