I've thought this, too. Wiig is by far the best thing about SNL in the last few years, but she probably won't be given a chance to be a big movie star.

Think of all the SNL alums that have attained the status of a bankable star. There are a lot, but none are women, from Gilda/Jane/Lorraine to the present day. Perhaps the biggest success story is Tina Fey, but that is largely from her TV work.

It seems that in order to be a superstar actress, a woman has to make her name known before she turns mid-twenties. And it is really hard for a comedienne to reach that pinnacle at such an early age. Which is shameful, because Wiig deserves at last the equal acclaim as Will Farrell.

I agree with you completely, in that Wiig (being a woman) may be past some sort of expiration date on snagging a really good script. That said, I would hate to see her become a 'backboard' female character in movies, because when I saw Extract last night, she really seemed to bring some emotional depth to a character that the script short-shrifted in the first 70 minutes.

Maybe an intelligent, well-written script (like Stranger than Fiction, if we're comparing to Ferrell, or Eternal Sunshine, if we must compare to Jim Carrey) can come her way and let her show acting chops. However, we live in a world where Sandra Bullock is taking roles (All About Steve: psycho stalker in quirktastic wellies? great!) that would make any woman over 30 cringe.

Wiig is great. She's better than Ferrell because she has something he could never pull off: subtlety. If she tries to follow in the footsteps of Ferrell, Sandler, or early Mike Myers, she will fail because Hollywood doesn't want to do subtlety. They want to pound you over the head with "funny" until you bleed out of your ears.

Here's to hoping that she hooks up with good writers and good directors to make smart, fresh comedies. Unfortunately, that's not the way the business works. One of the strongest lessons learned over the past few years is that America isn't ready for intelligent humor. Disagree? Two words: Arrested Development.

Wiig is more talented than Ferrell, but that talent won't be appreciated and definitely won't be rewarded.