Forgive me for offering my deepest sympathies to a man who married Scarlett Johansson for sport, but poor Ryan Reynolds! It's undoubtedly been a tough few weeks for the movie actor, especially because he probably thought that right around now, Green Lantern would be rounding the $250 million mark at the box-office, while The Change-Up would be basking in the glory of its number one opening at that very same box-office. Ryan Reynolds, the Movie Gods had decided, was going to rule the kingdom.

Instead, Green Lantern is already out of theaters with a $114 million domestic tally (not nearly enough for a movie that cost a reported $200 million to make) and The Change-Up is well on its way to being the only R-rated comedy to flop in a summer defined by the success of R-rated comedies. That hurts, even when this is what you see in the mirror. Meanwhile, Ryan's actor broheims are just murdering it. James Franco just bought himself a two year pass to paint, write, sing, and perform whatever he wants while still maintaining the cover of film stardom, while Ryan Gosling is, well, Ryan Gosling. Even Justin Timberlake is in a more enviable position right now, if only because he had the luck of not getting cast in Green Lantern.

But life for Ryan Reynolds isn't all rotten tomatoes and empty theater seats. Scarlett Johansson has apparently been texting him non-stop—which sounds like more fun than cocaine—and he has somewhat promising projects like Safe House, with Denzel Washington, and R.I.P.D., with Jeff Bridges, coming up. Still, despite these projects, there's a glaring omission on Reynolds' body of work. For all the roles he's played, none have been under the tutelage of a prestigious director. Align yourself with mediocre filmmakers, and your work will have no choice but to be just that. Landing a part in an Aronofsky or Scorsese film can't be easy for an actor who's still best known for Van Wilder, but if he wants to avoid the career debacle that was the second half of his summer of '11, then it should be priority number one. That and sit-ups.