For fans of the long-running comedy series “The Office,” it’s hard to see John Krasinski as anything other than the endearingly sweet Jim Halpert, who spent as much time wooing Pam as pulling elaborate but mostly harmless office pranks.
But he’s since transitioned to the action/thriller genre, making a name for himself in such movies as “13 Hours” and “The Quiet Place,” which also stars his wife, Emily Blunt. He’s now starring in the title role of Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan,” which premiered on Amazon Video in late August, but Stephen Colbert‘s not buying it.
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That has less to do with John’s skills as an actor, however, as it does with the 20-year-old chip on “The Tonight Show” host’s shoulder (ever since he lost the “titular role” in “Blade” to Wesley Snipes).
John managed to open that festering wound Tuesday night, although to be fair, only after Stephen poked and prodded him into it with a series of low blows, including challenging him to do 10 push-ups to prove he was a worthy successor to Harrison Ford.
“Can we just go back to having a nice, friendly conversation?” John asks, trying his best to control his temper.
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Nice and friendly? You mean, your bread and butter, comedy man?
And with that, the gloves are off.
But that’s not good enough for Stephen, who points out that “a real action guy” would just throw a punch rather than do something just because someone told him to. And that’s when the glasses come off.
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Stephen’s obviously doing everything he can to pick a fight, but John still retains some of Jim Halpert’s gentlemanly demeanor and tries to talk him out of it. That’s such a classic, pacifist John Krasinski move, Stephen says, then throws yet another low blow.
“You know who would’ve decked me right now? Harrison Ford.”
John genuinely looks stunned, and more than a little offended. “What did you say?”
“Yeah. The real Jack Ryan.”
Them’s fightin’ words. John throws a sucker punch that sends Stephen reeling against the back wall, and the two mock tumble through a side door into the back stage area. John points out fight scenes are always “highly choreographed and edited,” which is true, but then, in a snide aside, adds “you don’t have the budget for that.”
And it’s on. Stephen must defend CBS’s honor!
Various edibles are used as props as the fight scene plays out in the narrow hallway, and the action music’s cued just after John slips on a banana peel. Anything within arm’s reach is fair game as they hilariously throw each other against the wall in one of the greatest action-film parodies of all time!
Magic is real in Hollywood, a point well taken when Stephen bounces backto his feet from an attack in some sort of Victorian getup.
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“Now I get it,” John says knowingly. “Did you wear that to the ‘Blade’ audition?”
“I’m going to kill you, Halpert.”
They’ve done a pretty thorough job trashing the back stage area by this point, but there’s always room for more clichés. So they tumble into the elevator (where we’re treated to a cameo appearance by one of John’s old “Office” coworkers), and it hauls these two goofballs way up to the balcony. Words don’t do justice to the epic finale, so you’ll just have to click on the video below to see it play out.
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