Ashton Kutcher first became a household name thanks to his breakthrough role as the lovable
doofus Michael Kelso on the hit sitcom, That '70s Show.
But he's also attempted to gain some traction on the big screen — with mixed results.
Lately, Kutcher's movie roles have seemed fewer and farther in between.
With that in mind, here are some theories as to why Hollywood doesn't have much room
for him at the box office anymore...
Small screen start
Viewers might have been split between Team Kelso and Team Hyde when it came to Jackie's
love life throughout That '70s Show, but Kutcher's on-screen presence as the jovial bonehead
simply could not be denied.
(audience laughs)
"Woahoho!"
Ya ah hehe"
(audience laughs)
The show catapulted the then-21-year-old into instant fame, and he went on to solidify his
status as a small-screen A-lister by co-creating MTV's prank show Punk'd, where his rolodex
full of famous people came in handy as he pulled practical jokes on all his new Hollywood
pals.
He even single-handedly brought mesh trucker hats back into style, which is no easy feat.
Dude, where's my blockbuster?
Kutcher did have some initial success translating his slapstick humor to the big screen in 2000's
Dude, Where's My Car?, and he charmed alongside Brittany Murphy in 2003's Just Married.
But both films still earned scathing reviews that didn't exactly bolster his rep as a serious
actor.
"And thennnn?"
"No!
No and then!"
"And then?"
"No and then!"
"And then!"
"No and then!"
"And then!"
"No and then!"
Kutcher tried to turn things around with a starring role in the 2004 time-travel thriller
The Butterfly Effect.
But while the movie made a nice chunk of change, his Rotten Tomatoes average wasn't exactly
improved as a result of the arguably underrated flick.
Collectively, Kutcher's filmography has been marred with one pan after another from reviewers,
and none of the movies he's acted in have ever even broken the 50 percent threshold
in their Rotten Tomatoes scores.
"I gotta hand it to him he got me there hehe.
That's a major burn!
Hehe."
Total typecast
Some of Kutcher's biggest commercial successes on the silver screen have remained in the
comedic realm, including his 2008 rom-com with Cameron Diaz, What Happens in Vegas,
his part in Garry Marshall's 2010 ensemble dramedy Valentine's Day, and his "friends
with benefits" film with Natalie Portman, 2011's No Strings Attached.
In each of those movies, Kutcher's quirky demeanor helped his characters stick, and
although none of them were quite as dimwitted as Michael Kelso or his Dude persona Jesse
Montgomery III, they also weren't exactly Mensa material.
Put simply: his fans seem to prefer when Kutcher sticks to the most basic levels of intelligence
on-screen.
His lead role in 2013's Jobs, a much-hyped Steve Jobs biopic, failed to resonate with
audiences or critics as well, proving that without the laughs, no one's really interested.
Costly comeback
As his film momentum slowed, Kutcher made what was poised to be a "winning" return to
television in 2011, replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men.
Despite the fact that Kutcher seemed like an ideal addition to the show, which boasted
sky-high viewership during Sheen's tenure, ratings rapidly declined.
After that, he again returned to TV with the Netflix sitcom The Ranch in 2016.
On paper, The Ranch had all the right ingredients for small screen success — up to and including
his old screen partner from That '70s Show, Danny Masterson, and a round table cameo from
fellow former castmate Wilmer Valderrama.
But unlike a lot of Netflix productions, it's been met with little critical acclaim and
hasn't attracted the kind of cult audience enjoyed by many of the streaming service's
other original series.
FFBF
Another hindrance to Kutcher's film career is, ironically, his offscreen success.
He moonlights as a tech developer and investor, which has become a serious second work life
for him.
And he basically helped put Twitter on the map by engaging in a popularity contest on
the platform with national news station CNN in 2009.
Plus, let's face it.
He tends to make more headlines for his personal life than his onscreen accomplishments.
Kutcher and his first wife, Demi Moore, were regular characters on the red carpet and used
their social network platforms to document virtually every detail of their marriage,
and he and his second wife, Mila Kunis, continue to attract off-camera attention.
"We're making people.
We're just making people."
"Ya."
Even as audiences avoid Kutcher's films, a lot of people still take the time to speculate
on what the couple will name their children.
Not that he doesn't give them plenty of reasons to play along...
"I, there was a rallying cry from a collective that believed in the name Hawkeye."
"Hawkeye!"
"I'm an Iowan, right, and a kid named Hawkeye."
"Hawkeye!"
"And it's like M*A*S*H, like he could be a doctor!"
Maybe the two should go ahead and just make that fake MoonQuake Lake movie from Annie
with Rihanna after all to turn things around for him …
"What if when you go to the moon there's an astroid or something?"
"Then I would die."
"But I will catch you."
"I know you will."
"It's time."
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