Is it just me, or does Steve Carell seem to be everywhere these days? Not only did he have Evan Almighty this summer, in the past month alone, we’ve also seen two new trailers for movies that he’s starring in (Get Smart and this one). Ever since he popped his leading-man cherry with The 40 Year Old Virgin, Carell has definitely become the new Hollywood IT guy, taking the reigns from Will Ferrell, who not too long ago took the reigns from Jim Carey.

The thing about Carell, though, is it feels like his induction into the upper echelon of Hollywood has been somewhat accelerated compared to Farrell and Carey. Jim Carey, for example, had a brilliant run. After Ace Ventura, he did about a movie a year, and they were all highly anticipated. And when he played his first semi-dramatic role in The Truman Show, everyone was on the edge of their seats. Will Farrell’s rise to the top was a bit more saturating, but even his was tasteful. He was smart enough to play some supporting role here and there, so that we didn’t get Will Ferrell overload. And he waited as long as one can expect him to wait before his first semi-dramatic role in Stranger Than Fiction.

But it seems like Steve Carell is doing it all in fast-forward. It’s as though he read the manual written by Carey and Farell and just decided to skip right to the good parts. I mean, 40 Year Old Virgin was great, but for his next comedic role to be the summer blockbuster Evan Almighty is astounding. And the fact that he jumped right into the semi-dramatic thing with Little Miss Sunshine is almost unfair. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I like an actor to tease me a little bit, to make me beg for it. Doesn’t Carell know that if he gives it away too easily, we won’t respect him in the morning?

Steve Carell is a great actor, so I can’t fault him there. But I’m definitely worried that we’re going to be sick of him long before we should be. For example, this Dan in Real Life movie doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’ll RENT IT I suppose, but if he’d done it right; if he’d taken his time and put out a movie a year (instead of three), maybe by the time this one came out, I would be craving some Carell so badly that I would have had no choice but to see it in the theaters. But alas, he’s ruined it now. It was good while it lasted, but I doubt I’ll even call him again.

Dan in Real Life is rated PG-13 and opens October 26. (Official Site)