It happens almost every time. A comedian gets tired of the one-liners and silly faces that propelled him or her to fame and wants to try (long pause with tension-building underscore, please) DRAMA!

Plenty of talented comedians have done it successfully to become among some of the best dramatic actors of our day: Tom Hanks, Bill Murray and Robin Williams, just to name a few. Others have failed. In Little Miss Sunshine, Steve Carell definitely takes his first steps toward that leap.

Sunshine is the story of the Hoover family as they drive from Albuquerque to California to enter daughter Olive, a frumpy seven-year-old short on talent but full of heart, in the "Little Miss Sunshine" contest, a pre-teen beauty pageant that, quite frankly, evokes disturbing images of JonBenet Ramsey. Carell plays Olive's suicidal gay uncle who accompanies the family because he can't be left alone after being jilted by a younger lover. It's a far cry from Michael on The Office or his former faux-news reporter from The Daily Show.

True, the film is meant to be a comedy, and Carell delivers plenty of funny, albeit stoic zingers. But he also demonstrates flashes of dramatic potential, most especially in one scene where he is unexpectedly confronted by his former gay lover while awkwardly buying dirty magazines in a convenience store.

And he holds his own against an extremely talented cast including Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin, all three of whom cut their teeth in comedy too -- Collette in Muriel's Wedding, Kinnear in Mystery Men and Nurse Betty, and Arkin famously in The In-Laws and Insector Clousseau (yes, he played the role in between stints by Peter Sellers).

Whether Carell wants to continue doing drama is a different matter. On the horizon for him is Evan Almighty, a pseudo-sequel to Bruce Almighty, and a remake (oh, Lord, not another remake) of Get Smart. But if he wants to make the leap, I'd say Steve Carell definitely has what it takes.

Drama Baby Steps

Before they were highfalutin actors in heavy dramas like Saving Private Ryan or Good Will Hunting, guys like Tom Hanks, Robin Williams and Bill Murray had to take their first baby-steps into drama. Here are a few of my favorite early dramas by some cross-over comedians that you might not have seen, but are definitely worth a look.

• Robin Williams, The World According to Garp (1982) Williams brilliantly brings John Irving's character to life in this story of a struggling writer who deals with an overbearing mom, a roller-coaster marriage, a transexual best friend, and a cult of PTSD women who cut out their own tongues. Glenn Close and John Lithgow also shine in classic performances.
• Tom Hanks, Nothing in Common (1986) Hanks plays his typical wisecracking and witty character, but lets his dramatic side loose when confronted with his parents' late-in-life divorce and an ailing father played inspiringly by Jackie Gleason.
• Bill Murray, The Razor's Edge (1984) I remember the trailers tried to make it look like a comedy, but this adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel is anything but a laugher. It was a box-office flop, but Murray gives glimpses of what's to come much later in films such as Lost in Translation.
• Steve Martin, Grand Canyon (1991) and The Spanish Prisoner (1997) This is a toss-up for me. In GC, he's a sleazy film producer bent on cramming as much gore into his films as possible. In Prisoner he's a sophisticated con artist who looks like he was born to deliver David Mamet's staccato style. Both are gems in my book.

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