Stranger Than Fiction is a good, solid dramatic performance that points towards even better work in the future - as long at the tranquilizer dart guy has good aim.
Your example is better. I thought Jim Carrey was great in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, while I loathe most of his comedy work.
NTK.net had a decent rule of thumb: Bearded Robin Williams good, clean-shaven Robin Williams bad.
If you ever get a chance to see Jim Carrey sing the farewell song to Larry Sanders (Larry Sanders Show finale - HBO), then do so. It’s freaking hilarious, and his comment to Sanders (Garry Shandling) after this over-the-top performance is gold. I like the first Pet Detective movie, but everything else has been mediocre.
Back to Will Farrell: I haven’t seen Stranger Than Fiction, but I’d rather chew broken glass than watch any of his other films.
I loved him as the lead on the short lived TV series The Oblongs which is hugely successful on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. !!
Elf is a classic, Blades of Glory had moments, but the rest were horrible.
Step Brothers - Made for a good laugh.
Blades of Glory - Not bad. I enjoyed it but wouldn’t watch it again.
Stranger Than Fiction - I left the theater half way through the movie. It sucked.
Talladaga Nights - Meh. I watched it and I might have laughed occasionally.
The Anchorman - One of my favorite movies ever. We have quoted this movie a billion times.
Elf - Good stuff. I’ve scene it a few times and it’s still funny.
Old School - Animal House v2.0 YOU’RE MY BOY BLUE!
I was about to ask about Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers, except a quick check with IMDB shows me that was Vince Vaughan, which shows you how few WF movies I’ve seen.
OTOH, this thread’s gotten me to understand I’m a VV fan.
What amazes me about this discussion is how consistent y’all are about his movies. I’ve been lurking on this board since the mid-90s, and the only time I’ve seen that happen (heck, I’ve seen passionate advocacy for “Showgirls” and “Starship Troopers”) was “Freddy Got Fingered.” NO ONE defended that abomination unto Hollywood.
I haven’t seen them all, but I would rank those I’ve seen in this order (worst to best, as requested):
The Anchorman
.
Elf
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Stranger Than Fiction
I wish he’d be in more movies with Owen Wilson. Their different comedic styles seem to compliment each other really nicely.
My personal favorites from best to worst:
Anchorman (It’s just “Anchorman” or “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”)
Old School (more for the ensemble of Vince Vaugn, Farrel and Luke Wilson)
Step Brothers
Stranger Than Fiction
Talladaga Nights
Blades of Glory (most of my dislike of the retard from Napoleon Dynamite was balanced by Will Arnett)
Elf
Haven’t seen these:
Land of the Lost
The Oblongs (tv)
Curious George
I don’t really understand the hate for Will Farrell. I guess you either find his boisterous overbearing man-child shtick funny or you don’t.
I think Will Ferrell is pretty damned funny, and Anchorman is hilarious.
‘‘You bitch! You woke up the bears. Why did you do that?’’ So many quotable moments in that film.
So, best to worst:
Anchorman
Stranger Than Fiction - I’d place it as a tie with Anchorman, but they are very different movies. I am a fiction writer so I was especially moved by this film, particularly the moment where the author met her character.
Elf - a very understated, quirky, heart-warming little film.
Blades of Glory - I’ve only seen it once or twice, but from what I can recall it was pretty funny.
Talladaga Nights - not his best, not his worst
Old School - not my favorite
The others I haven’t seen.
People, people, learn how to spell Talladega!
(Interestingly, the posters who liked it are the ones who are spelling it right. Hmm…)
I liked Land of the Lost, and I seem to almost be the only one here who saw it. It was an obvious cmoedy with no deep meaning and a compete lack of any complex humor. And it was still funny. Farrel played a washed-up scientist whose real genius was obscured his immense ego and dubious judgement. In a world of dimensional travel through kiddie park rides and rampaging T. Rexes much smarter than he.
Sex Ed With Angus | Advice & Tips From A Professional Sex Therapist Here are the Oblongs with an explanation.
The thing is that he doesn’t actually do anything with his “boisterous overbearing man-child shtick”. It’s like a comic who thinks just doing a funny voice kills (see: “Coffee Talk”). A character is a fine thing, but it’s not funny unless you have them also do or say something funny.
I wish I could find the exact quote, so I’m paraphrasing here: Writers like creating funny things for normal-seeming people to say, while performers prefer to create strange characters. Wit versus clowning. Farrell is pretty firmly in the “clown” camp, and frankly I don’t find him to be a funny clown. No, his naked ass isn’t particularly hilarious, unless you find any man’s naked ass hilarious.
I think his popularity comes in the quotability of his movies. the movies themselves - the situations, the characters, the plots, aren’t funny in themselves. however, a lot of his lines are pretty funny out of context (at least to me and my group of friends).
a string of hyperspecific non-sequiturs is what kiddies today laugh at. that and out-of-context pop references, severely self deprecating racial humor, and the much emulated, never replicated what-if stylings of Dave Chappelle.
I am in the minority, but I couldn’t watch more than 15 minutes of Anchorman. Extremely not funny. And Old School wasn’t nearly as funny as I wanted it to be.
But I thought Step Brothers was fuckin’ hilarious. He and JC Reilly had the 12 year old thing down perfect.
Blades of Glory was pretty funny too, I thought. Can’t put my finger on why those two were funny to me and the top two, prolly his most popular fillums, weren’t. Hmm.
Favorites:
Old School
Anchorman
Elf
Stranger Than Fiction
Meh:
Step Brothers
Blades of Glory
Talladaga Nights
Didn’t See:
Land of the Lost
Curious George
The Oblongs (tv)
I noticed that NOBODY finds Semi-Pro funny.
Elf
Anchorman:The Legend of Ron Burgandy
Stranger Than Fiction
Talladaga Nights
Blades of Glory
Bewitched
Step Brothers
Did not see:
Land of the Lost
Curious George
Old School
The Oblongs (tv)
Aren’t you missing some, like Bewitched and that soccer movie with Mike Ditka?
Heh… I was about to post “Wasn’t he in some basketball movie?”
Stranger than Fiction was good but in a class of Ferrell movies by itself.
I personally enjoyed Anchorman, Old School & Talladaga Nights in that order.
Elf was okay but I don’t get the love for it from some people. Blades of Glory & Step-Brothers had moments but were pretty lackluster.
Semi-Pro, “That soccer movie” & Bewitched sucked. Didn’t see the rest.