'SATURDAY NIGHT' SPECIALS WHO AMONG CAST MEMBERS HAVE PROVEN THEMSELVES IN HOLLYWOOD?

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

While the fact that Eddie Murphy is opening a ``Dr. Dolittle'' sequel today doesn't exactly fill film buffs with glee, the family comedy series' viability is a reminder that not all graduates of ``Saturday Night Live's'' Not Ready For Prime Time Players troupe have been cinematic pariahs.

And we do have to be reminded. Constantly.

When most people think ``SNL'' movies, they're quite naturally plagued by visions of Adam Sandler's aggressive idiocy, funny five-minute skits stretched way beyond a length they could conceptually support and, well, ``Doctor Detroit.''

Yet a closer examination reveals that a handful of ``SNL'' refugees have carved out honorable, even exciting movie careers, to the point where we look forward to their very appearance on a big screen as much as we wince when we see some of their colleagues' names on a poster.

``I think a lot of them were always very good actors,'' observes producer-director Ivan Reitman, who gave many of the early cast members their breakout movie roles. ``One of the great things they learned on that show was to listen, and that's sort of the first step toward great acting. They were great natural actors who, because they worked in the area of comedy, never got the respect they deserved.''

Well, making films like ``Oh Heavenly Dog'' doesn't do much for anyone's reputation, either. Still, now seems like the time to salute the few ``SNL'' actors whose overall film work we definitely do admire. We've listed our five favorites, in order and why, below, followed by five whose film careers have been the most disappointing and another five more recent or current players who we hope get the chance to live up to their potential for movie greatness.

The top five

EDDIE MURPHY: The most successful film comedian of modern times, Murphy demolished box-office racial barriers while defining action comedy with his early-'80s hits ``48 HRS.'' and ``Beverly Hills Cop.'' Having started at such a high point, though, he seemed to fall further than others during the inevitable dip in cinematic fortunes. But unlike most ``SNL''-ers, Murphy adapted to new effects technologies with immense - in more ways than one - creativity in the ``Nutty Professor'' films and, to a lesser extent, the ``Dr. Dolittle'' series and animated films ``Shrek'' and ``Mulan.'' Most crucially, he figured out that giving audiences more than their money's worth (something lazier colleagues like Chevy Chase and Adam Sandler would do well to learn) was good, often playing multiple characters in the same movie and astonishing us with his comic versatility, perhaps most sublimely in Steve Martin's 1999 ``Bowfinger.''

BILL MURRAY: The best example of a Not Ready Player who applied the smarts so evident in his TV work to his movie choices. Sure, Murray's made as many stinkers as any other actor. But alone among ``SNL'' alums, he maintains a filmography of majority quality entries: ``Caddyshack,'' ``Tootsie,'' ``Ghostbusters,'' ``Little Shop of Horrors,'' ``What About Bob?'' ``Groundhog Day,'' ``Mad Dog and Glory,'' ``Ed Wood,'' ``Kingpin,'' ``Wild Things,'' ``Rushmore,'' the New York ``Hamlet'' and more. Plus, he's unmatched at stealing those and lesser films from high-powered co-stars of every stripe.

DAN AYKROYD: Although a handful of big comedies (``Blues Brothers,'' ``Trading Places,'' ``Ghostbusters'') remain indelible, Aykroyd looked like the poster boy for Players who make bad movie choices until, shrewdly, he decided to get serious. Aykroyd's dramatic work - in ``Driving Miss Daisy,'' ``This Is My Life,'' ``Chaplin,'' ``The House of Mirth'' and others - has redeemed his career. And in the case of the otherwise risible ``Pearl Harbor,'' his proved to be the only redeeming performance in the whole movie.

CHRISTOPHER GUEST: The New York-born British baron joined the cast right around the time that his most memorable film role, as Spinal Tap's dense guitarist Nigel Tufnel, hit theaters. He has since become the finest practitioner of the mockumentary format that ``This Is Spinal Tap'' (which Guest co-wrote) established. Terrific as his performances in ``Waiting for Guffman'' and ``Best in Show'' have been, Guest's real contribution to cinematic comedy is his sharply observed, mercilessly derisive yet refreshingly humane writing and stylish directing of those films, which invest wit, style and real surprise in what has become a formulaic and abused genre.

MIKE MYERS: Although he doesn't direct, Myers is arguably a more successful auteur than Guest, having thoroughly bent movie audiences to both his ``Wayne's World''-view and Austin Powers' international outlook - a perfectly ``SNL,'' wonky perspective overly informed by pop-culture cheese. His current success as the voice of Shrek marks one of the few times that an animated feature character can barely be distinguished - visually, aurally and behaviorally - from the unseen talent behind it.

The five missteps

CHEVY CHASE: The first guy to ditch the show for the movies was also the most sophisticated wit in the original cast. Now he's eking out a living entertaining kids with the likes of ``Snow Day.'' Quite simply, Chase, like many a less-talented ensemble member after him, tasted limited success in Hollywood without really trying, and never understood that actually working to be funny is what keeps audiences interested after the novelty wears off.

JOHN BELUSHI: It's been said, cynically, of others, but dying may indeed have been the best career move Belushi ever made. We now remember him as the hilarious godfather of gross-out humor in ``Animal House'' and ``The Blues Brothers,'' but could he have kept that limited schtick fresh for the two decades it took until the Farrelly brothers revitalized the approach? Attempts to broaden his comic range in his last two films, ``Neighbors'' and ``Continental Divide,'' still look inconclusive.

DANA CARVEY: Perhaps the biggest big-screen tragedy in the annals of ``SNL'' is the failure of this very gifted and likable comedian to get, at least, the consistent film work of a Jon Lovitz or Rob Schneider. A brilliant impersonator, indispensable sidekick in the ``Wayne's World'' hits and, for now and evermore, the Church Lady (one of the show's most indelible characters - ``Ladies Man'' was made into a movie and this skit wasn't?), it appears that Carvey was never forgiven for the derivative ``Clean Slate.'' Which is really stupid; the film may not have been much, but Carvey's performance in it was one of the richest any ``SNL'' graduate has ever filmed.

JOE PISCOPO: The perfect example of a guy whose appeal was limited to the small screen. Piscopo's jumpy, unctuous persona just played too obnoxiously when presented bigger-than-life. Plus, Sinatra's dead, so what's he gonna do for the second half of his act?

VICTORIA JACKSON: Jackson has opted for a family-focused life, but the fact that this beguiling expert at conceptual, character and physical comedy never got much more than supporting roles in Hollywood is indicative of how the movies have forgotten how to appreciate funny females. In earlier eras, Jackson's talent would have earned her designations like The New Judy Holliday. These days, most studio types probably think Judy Holliday sang the blues.

The five high hopes:

TINA FEY: With her gleefully wicked ``Weekend Update'' delivery, ``SNL's'' first woman head writer has also emerged as the current cast's most charismatic personality. If anyone can bring smart comedy back to American cinema, the gal who resharpened the long-moribund series' edge could be it.

CHRIS KATTAN: Kattan combines imaginatively extreme characterizations with delightfully sick, slapstick ingenuity on the show and, as Organ Donor Guy in the unfairly maligned ``Monkeybone,'' appears to know how to raise the stakes of his edgy humor to uproarious movie size.

CHRIS ROCK: With exceptions like the tepid ``Down to Earth,'' Rock has more or less managed to transfer his confrontationally insightful humor to the big screen intact (``Nurse Betty,'' ``Dogma,'' ``Lethal Weapon 4'') without quite landing that breakout showcase in the process. With his own creation ``Pootie Tang'' and the audacious, semi-animated ``Osmosis Jones'' scheduled to hit theaters soon, this could be the summer when Rock finally rolls.

WILL FERRELL: We're still waiting for Ferrell - in versatility and general comic tone, the Dan Aykroyd of his generation - to join that movie project that really lets him fly. But time is running out, and he's going to have to steer clear of his buddies' halaked skit extensions (``A Night at the Roxbury,'' ``Superstar,'' ``Ladies Man'') if he's ever going to shine on his own.

JULIA SWEENEY: ``It's Pat'' may well be the ultimate example of an ``SNL'' skit that wasn't ready for movietime, but creator Sweeney at least proved herself one of the most chameleonlike and, let's face it, truly disturbing comic minds to ever come from the program - gifts the film of her marvelously personal, one-woman stage show, ``God Said, 'Ha!' '' proved beyond any doubt. C'mon, Hollywood, you forgive Robert Downey Jr. (also a Player for a season) every two weeks or so; it's time to let Sweeney back in the game.

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21 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Eddie Murphy in ``Dr. Dolittle''

(2 -- cover -- color) Dan Aykroyd

(3 -- cover -- color) Eddie Murphy

(4 -- cover -- color) Bill Murray

(5 -- cover -- color) Christopher Guest

(6 -- cover -- color) Mike Myers

(7) MURPHY

(8) MURRAY

(9) AYKROYD

(10) GUEST

(11) MYERS

(12) SWEENEY

(13) FERRELL

(14) ROCK

(15) KATTAN

(16) FEY

(17) CHASE

(18) BELUSHI

(19) CARVEY

(20) PISCOPO

(21) JACKSON