Ask any student here at Union if they know who the actor Jack Black is, and you will receive a quick reply in the positive.

Whether it was in Nacho Libre or School of Rock, The Polka King or King Kong (2005), Jack Black is an indelible figure in the culture of millennials.

But nowadays, one can’t help but ask “why has Jack Black’s career been so stagnant over the last few years?”

While it is true that over the last few years, Jack Black has been in some movies. Netflix’s original movie The Polka King (2017) is an example of an excellent movie that tells the story of the Polish immigrant who moves to Pennsylvania and starts a polka band, but soon starts a Ponzi scheme that goes undiscovered for a handful of years.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) was a rather lackluster film that also stars the ever-disappointing Kevin Hart, alongside the former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; a man whose back is strong enough to carry such tremendously terrible films (and franchises) as Tooth Fairy (2010), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002) and Central Intelligence (2016), to name a few.

But the issue here isn’t that Jack Black isn’t in enough stuff, it’s that he isn’t in enough good stuff.

If you compare his recent work to his work from about a decade ago, there are stark differences.

In the period between 2001 and 2008 Jack Black was in Saving Silverman, Ice Age, School of Rock, Nacho Libre, King Kong, Tropic Thunder and Kung Fu Panda.

That’s a pretty good series of movies, with a wide variety of producers and directors, including Peter Jackson, who directed and produced the 2005 remake of King Kong, a wonderful film which I’ll touch on later.

That film stretch shows just how adaptable Jack Black can be, and when considering that he also made and appearance in 2002 on MadTV, and is the leader of the successful comedy rock band, Tenacious D, it’s clear that Jack Black is a person who understands how to work within the entertainment industry.

I would attribute Jack Black’s recent success with The Polka King to be his own making.

Jack Black was the perfect fit for the character he portrays; they have a passion for music, a wonderful charm, and the ambition to move oneself forward.

The way Jack Black was able to create such a character was because he produced although he didn’t write it, he had a great deal of sway in the creative process.

Other films that Black has produced include School of Rock and Nacho Libre, a couple of Jack Black masterpieces.

Before continuing, I would also like to acknowledge the acting prowess and comedic skills that make Jack Black.

Firstly, Jack Black has an impressive acting range. He can be the entertaining luchador Nacho Libre, or the greedy, crafty Carl Denham in Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong.

In Bernie, Jack Black played the role of a murderer, a role well outside his normal acting repertoire. Black remarked that the role was difficult because he had to play someone “entirely unsympathetic,” who “is not exactly lovable,” and yet he had an incredible performance.

Secondly, Jack Black looks funny. That’s not to put him down, that’s to say that he has a physicality about him that is entertaining – reminiscent of Chris Farley, perhaps. He can express a wide array of emotions and create some funny facial expressions, and he isn’t afraid to look ridiculous.

Thirdly, and finally, Jack Black has a professionalism about him that is really very admirable. He knows when it’s appropriate to be funny, and when he should be careful of what he says, which is why he has never been involved in a scandal or sticky situation.

All of this support for Jack Black begs the question: Why has Jack Black not made it? The issue is not ambition. Jack Black has had a very dark and difficult past – at the age of 14, he was addicted to cocaine.

From 1992 to 2000, Jack Black was in roughly 20 movies – some of those roles uncredited — In the last ten years, he has been in just as many, so it is clear that Black hasn’t lost any ambition.

However, as of recent, Jack Black has shifted himself creatively, and he is seeking more serious roles – not necessarily drama, or more murderer roles, but less comedic roles. Black says that he is disinterested in continuing to make “frat-guy comedies,” as he has grown tired of being cast in them – but therein lies the problem.

Jack Black has suffered the fatal flaw of investing one’s efforts too far into a niche genre, and as a result, Jack Black has a difficult time getting roles outside of his usual type-cast characters because Hollywood producers either cannot, or refuse to see the full abilities of Jack Black. Barring setbacks, Jack Black’s on the right track to come back to the top of the pack without flak. I believe he has the ambition and audacity to break out of his normally type-cast roles and become something much greater.

His film The Polka King shows what he can do when he is given some creative leeway and liberties. In fact, I think The Polka King may mark the beginning of a new era for Jack Black, because it really is such a really well-done film.

That, and his previous work in films like Bernie will show Hollywood executives that the critically-dormant Jack Black of the previous ten years is no more.

If Jack Black encounters snags along the way, I suspect that they will be related to poor collaboration, such as in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson put on extraordinarily disappointing performances, and Jack Black’s role in the film was lackluster at best – but Jack Black worked with it the best he could.

If I were Jack Black’s manager, I would be vehemently against any further collaboration with actors on the level of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who is in all truth a very poor actor that, by some enigma, can carry and reprise roles in atrociously awful franchises.

Or Kevin Hart, who is a stand-up comedian that couldn’t survive the plunge into the Hollywood film industry.

What Jack Black needs to do is seek more creative, satisfying and high-class films to be in.

Another Tropic Thunder would be great for Jack Black’s career – but it doesn’t have to be on that scale. But that’s all beside the point. If Jack Black can just capture that lighting in a bottle that he harnessed for The Polka King and keep producing movies that he is interested in and satisfied with, then he really can’t go wrong.