# What Happened to Will Farrell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743 "2020-06-24T14:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/21 "2020-06-24T23:14:33Z")
He was the definitive George W. Bush… ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/22 "2020-06-25T00:28:27Z")
Oh, yes, he definitely was. All the guys that followed him (including Darrell Hammond!) were pale imitations. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/23 "2020-06-25T07:16:11Z")
Yes, I recall the Sherlock Holmes spoof specifically. I started viewing that one, knowing full well this was not going to be a good movie. Nonetheless I had to stop after some 15 minutes when they were attacked by the bees (don’t ask), as I simply couldn’t stand it anymore. I still believe it is a pity as I think he might make a good comedian if he would be willing to recalibrate his comedic instincts to modern society. It seems a number of old SNL alumni get stuck in the mode of body humor, gross physical jokes with ‘funny’ faces, instead of the quicker intellectual/ironic/‘meta’ kind of wit that is common nowadays.\* Chevy Chase comes to mind, who did perform well in Community when reined in by a tight script, but according to commentary still prefered a cruder, body-oriented type of humor. I always thought that 30 Rock played off on that, by showing the old SNL type of humor in the brief skits (the fart machine!), while the show itself was a different kind of comedy. - Of course there is still a kind of ‘gross’ humor in movies like Judd Apatow, Amy Schumer, but I feel that it is somewhat different. That might be the subject of another discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/24 "2020-06-25T13:39:44Z")
He just needs more cowbell. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/25 "2020-06-25T14:02:31Z")
He does a wonderful Alex Trebek. Other than that, ecch. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/26 "2020-06-25T14:10:35Z")
Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/27 "2020-06-25T14:37:46Z")
I’ve been disappointed by most of his movies; **Anchorman** could have been the great satire about the 24-hour news cycle we’re overdue for, but it wasn’t. The same director also made **The Big Short,** which was brilliant; **Anchorman** should have been too. On the other hand, **Everything Must Go** was a quietly great movie. I saw it on an airplane; I was otherwise unaware of its existence. He just needs a good script and a studio to promote it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/28 "2020-06-26T00:16:16Z")
I was going to post the same thing. Sure, Anchorman, Old School, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers were hilarious. And it’s fun to see him do cameos at whatnot. A lot of his other comedies suck. He should do more films like Everything Must Go and Stranger Than Fiction. It’s kind of the same with Adam Sandler. He has the potential to do better films. I even liked him in that Judd Apatow film Funny People where he played a kind of jerky version of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/29 "2020-06-26T01:24:47Z")
I’d give high marks to _Anchorman, Elf, Talladega Nights_ (“Thank you, Baby Jesus, for my hot wife!” “Woohoo!”) and _Step Brothers_. His other stuff hasn’t always wowed me. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/30 "2020-06-27T18:49:05Z")
It seems to be a common them for actors from SNL have to have the first few movies they do be good and then the quality of them just deteriorates for some reason. Will Farrell, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Rob Schneider all fit that model. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/31 "2020-06-29T01:45:18Z")
Rather than starting a new thread, I’ll post here: I watched the Eurovision movie today and thought it was pretty good. It felt very sincere and the musical numbers were surprisingly good. Apparently there were a number of cameos for Eurovision fans (which I am not), but it was still a fun and lighthearted flick. Perfect for a streaming release. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/32 "2020-06-29T02:38:40Z")
It seemed like I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had more than a very passing familiarity with Eurovision. It was a bit weird. It was an obviously American film, and an obviously Will Ferrell film at that, but it seemed like a lot of the humor was aimed squarely at Eurovision fans, surely a tiny demographic in the U.S. Any European (or otherwise Eurovision fan) Dopers watch it? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/33 "2020-06-29T05:32:05Z")
I’m European, didn’t watch the Eurovisiion movie for reasons discussed in this thread. There were mixed reviews over here, so maybe I should give it a try. It does also star Rachel McAdams. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/34 "2020-06-29T05:43:43Z")
As I recall, the saying is that you can pretend to be serious, but you can’t pretend to be funny. It takes guts to go out there and risk failure. But it takes brains to figure out which scripts are worth taking…maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/35 "2020-06-29T10:23:55Z")
Bill Murray has made very good movies late into his career, mostly by turning down “surefire” comedies from directors he doesn’t want to work with anymore. Robert Downey Jr’s career has been quite a rollercoaster, but his “one and done” season on the show kind of shot by unnoticed. Not following Kristen Wiig’s career very closely, but the last thing I saw her in– **Diary of a Teenage Girl** –was pretty impressive. Also, Tina Fey. That’s four out of about 200 careers, though. I think Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock are one concert movie apiece from being back in the game. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/36 "2020-06-29T10:53:11Z")
It’s **Will Ferrell** , and **Colin Farrell**. Please learn them. There will be a test later. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/37 "2020-06-29T10:54:16Z")
Feral actors are dangerous in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/38 "2020-06-29T15:35:55Z")
I watched it. Also not a fan of Will Ferrell, but I do like Eurovision and Rachel McAdams. There were some cringyworthy bits, as all his movies have, but over all? I liked it. _“Ja ja ding dong”_ is an annoying earworm. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/39 "2020-06-29T16:04:02Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > There were some cringyworthy bits, as all his movies have, but over all? I liked it. I thought it was one of Ferrell’s best movies in a long time. It was funny overall, heartfelt, touching and ended on a good note. Plus it had surprisingly good music for a movie of its type, and even the villain turned out not to be so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743/40 "2020-06-29T16:16:15Z")
Will Ferrell was on SNL during the era when they relied to a great deal on the “Annoying = funny” approach to constructing characters and sketches, which is perhaps my least favorite. They’d take someone with a trait or mannerism that would make them annoying to be around in real life, exaggerate the trait that made them annoying, and… that was supposed to be funny. Ferrell was not the only offender, but he was certainly one of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-will-farrell/912743.md?page=3)