Audiences may be familiar with Melissa McCarthy and Steve Carell from their comedic roles, but this year they are reminding us of their more dramatic side.

Comedians have a long history of making the jump from comedy to more quote-unquote serious roles. Whatever the driving force behind that decision, be it the desire to be taken more seriously or an interest in expanding their repertoire, this change yields a wide variety of results, from revelatory to disastrous. Comedians have delivered some truly incredible and iconic performances in dramatic roles. Look no further than Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple or Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.

While the distinction between comedy and drama is arguably quite arbitrary, especially given that plenty of dramatic roles call for comedy and vise versa, Melissa McCarthy and Steve Carell both chose roles in movies this year that are clearly dramas.

McCarthy stars as a struggling writer who begins forging letters from famous writers in order to make money while Carell plays the father of a meth addict fighting to keep his son alive.

Their performances vary with success, typifying both the rewards and pitfalls that come with comedians turning their attention to dramatic roles.

‘Beautiful Boy’

Steve Carell’s performance in Beautiful Boy is by far the weaker of these two performances. Although certainly not his first dramatic role – Carell was previously nominated for an Oscar for his work in Foxcatcher – his performance in Beautiful Boy is arguably his weakest.

Based on a true story, Carell plays David Sheff, the father to Nic (Timothee Chalamet) who struggles with meth addiction. Carell acts as the movie’s principle protagonist, offering the lens through which the audience views and experiences Nic’s addiction. Given David’s intimate involvement in trying to help and save his son, it’s natural that he would be the focal point through which this story is told. Unfortunately, Carell strains to measure up to the demands of the role.

It’s safe to say that most audiences are at least casually familiar with The Office and Carell’s performance as Michael Scott. Unfortunately for Beautiful Boy, there are quite a few scenes where Carell’s performance feels like a sort of parody of Michael Scott. Especially in those scenes where Carell is yelling – and there are several – his cadence sounds just like Michael Scott. This creates a really unnatural dissonance between the tone of the story and the tone of his performance.

On one hand, I feel bad for Carell because it’s not his fault that everyone still remembers Michael Scott, but his acting choices in Beautiful Boy just feel out of place. His weak performance is exacerbated even further by the strength of Timothee Chalamet’s performance as Nic. These two performances are completely at odds with one another – one feels naturalistic, the other feels fake.

Carell’s performance in Beautiful Boy is a performance example of how comedians struggle to break out from the box of their own creation. Unlike Carell’s performances in Foxcatcher where he is completely unrecognizable or in Battle of the Sexes where his comedic skills bolster the more dramatic moments, Beautiful Boy simply requires too much heavy lifting; here, he fails to escape the shadow of his comedy.

‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’

Melissa McCarthy is no stranger to leading roles. After working in TV for years (Gilmore Girls, Samantha Who?), McCarthy career as a leading lady took off after her Oscar nominated performance in Bridesmaids. Until now, her leading roles had consisted entirely of comedic performances from Spy to Ghostbusters. All of that changed with her role as writer Lee Israel in Marielle Heller’s movie Can You Ever Forgive Me?.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? follows Lee Israel during what she describes as, “the best time of [her] life.” As she struggles to find work, she turns to forging letters for a profit. Imitating deceased writers and actors, Israel turns the forgeries into an art of their own.

McCarthy excels in the role, delivering a performance unlike anything we’ve seen from her before. While no stranger to disappearing into roles, Can You Ever Forgive Me? uses her skills to greater effect. There’s a subtle brilliance with which McCarthy portrays Israel – it’s a performance that embraces her flaws, revels in her unlikeability, and never once doubts her talents.

McCarthy’s performance embodies the best possible outcome of a comedian delivering a dramatic turn; it not only shows us a new side of her, but it makes us appreciate her comedic talents more. It’s less that McCarthy gives up comedy for Can You Ever Forgive Me? and more that the film focuses her comedic skills in a different direction. Israel has a sharp wit and dry humor that McCarthy sells with ease.

Unlike Carell’s performance in Beautiful Boy which is unconvincing due to its uncanny parallels to his comedic past, McCarthy’s performance shines with originality, nailing the dramatic beats in a way that is both absorbing and affecting.