The same description applies to the dreadful Bewitched remake. Thinking about it, he’s been in plenty of bad movies. I guess it’s like Adam Sandler – there’s some hits in there that are still funny (to me, anyway) but his presence in a movie is by no means any indication that it’ll be good.
“I haven’t seen many of his movies, but I saw one of his worst efforts. Therefore, he is incapable of being any better than that example.”
You’re bad at logic.
Much of Will Ferrell’s comedy leaves me less than enthused but then he’ll do something to absolutely cause me to double over with laughter, so he’s very off and on with me. Like the Talledega Nights NASCAR movie he did, a lot of it was just dumb and not that funny. Then on the track he was running around in his underwear screaming “Help me Jesus, help me Jewish God, I’m on fire!” and I had to rewind it several times I was laughing so hard.
I so agree with this and I have a weird sense of humour myself… So not funny:smack:
Well, “I haven’t seen many” doesn’t translate to “none”, but disregarding that, if you have an actor who’s the best part in a terrible movie, that reflects more favorably on him than if he’s contributing heavily to the awfulness of the movie.
I am apparently also one of those people on whom the charm of “Elf” is lost.
Anyway, I’m cool with being bad at logic if it means I don’t have to see any more Will Ferrell movies.
Huh?
I really like Talladega Nights… but I wonder, what % of that movie having worked is the writing and what % is Will Ferrell as opposed to another schlub in that role?
I know this much — MORE of the movie’s having worked hinges on Sacha Baren Cohen than does on Ferrell.
As for Adam Sandler, the weird thing is if you check out some stand-ups (a la Frank Caliendo) doing Adam Sandler as a character… they don’t even have to exaggerate it to make it seem vapid. It really is just him saying "Would you like a piece of pie?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIGxc6VGs2E (very low-res but it’s cut down to just the relevant clip)
Ferrell’s work is rarely funny for me. It’s a matter of taste.
I’m no comedy expert, but I do find Will Ferrell funny more often than not. I think there’s a huge dose of “your mileage may vary” involved, but what does it for me is the way that he’s extremely good at lampooning the salient points of what define a particular character.
For example, in Anchorman, he’s a parody of a 1970s news anchor- he’s supposed to be suave, well traveled, well read, sophisticated and all that stuff, when in fact, he’s totally ignorant of most everything, and is completely unaware of it. It’s that lack of a wink and a nod that makes me laugh the most- it’s as if he’s playing the crazy character straight in a sense.
Few other comedians do that; most of them are more about the actual lines they’re saying than the actual reactions and characterization of the person. For example, in the “Wedding Crashers”, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn are playing more or less normal characters put in funny situations. The humor is more about the situations and the lines, not their characters themselves. Will Ferrell’s humor is more about the characterization and reaction than the situation itself. I’d like to see if he could pull off funny without being quite so over the top.
Srsly, the birthday party scene is one of the funniest things I’ve ever watched.
I also liked him as Officer Willandholly in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.
For starring roles, tho, the only thing I’ve seen that I thought was worthwhile was Stranger Than Fiction.
I think there are a lot of people in Hollywood funnier than Will Ferrell. I’m not sure why he’s so highly sought after right now, but then again, I never understood why Martin Lawrence had a career to begin with.
But, here’s the thing, I don’t think another schlub would work in that role. As stated upthread a few times, one of the reasons Will Ferrell’s acting ‘works’ is that he will completely buy into a character, regardless of how ridiculous or silly that character is. He’ll play that character straight (and yes, they are usually pompous windbags) where as just about any other actor would play the character with a bit of a wink. The fact that Ferrell is willing to invest seriously in the silly character makes it that much more hilarious, IMO.
I tend to like Ferrell’s work for that just that reason, whether its Talledega Nights or Anchorman or Blades of Glory or Old School or Elf,he dedication to the character results in hilarity. Other actors may try to indicate that they know the character is an idiot in their acting, whereas Ferrell’s acting demonstrates more that the actor/character has no clue they are being ridiculous.
Maybe that’s why Anchorman is one of his few movies that I really don’t like.
Ted Knight did it first and better with his Ted Baxter character 30 years previous and I can’t help making the comparisson.
I think you’ve nailed it, though I think Owen Wilson has a similar thing going on in that he can play ridiculous characters in a very ‘straight way’.
I think a lot of us are a bit young for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”…
(although I did like Ted Knight in “Too Close for Comfort” which came on when I was old enough to notice the actresses who played his daughters on that show)
His persona is also sort of a cousin to Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau, the guiding principle being “maintain your high opinion of yourself in the face of all contrary evidence.”
No one has mentioned The Campaign - that was a good role for him. I second the recommendation of La Casa de mi Padre, in which he speaks all in Spanish… though that movie is as much a parody of Mexican television shows as it is a vehicle for Farrell.
I used to watch Mary Tyler Moore and while there’s similarities, one important distinction is that no one took Ted Knight seriously and he was just a blowhard people rolled their eyes at. Ron Burgundy was revered to almost deific levels by his male coworkers and deeply respected by the population at large. Even Applegate’s character starts out charmed by him.
I’m not familiar enough with all of Ferrell’s films to cross compare but the popular Talladega Nights has Ricky Bobby the same way: acts completely outlandish (played straight) and the rest of the world acts as though his behavior is completely rational. Even when he cracks, it’s not “This jackass has to be playing a joke” but “Oh, man he’s lost it”
I would never mention Ferrell in the same sentence as Seller’s Clouseau. Sellers let’s you care for the little French inspector. He, as with most of Seller’s characters, is an Everyman. Ferrell makes fun of the people he portrays. The only time I saw Sellers do that was in “The World of Henry Orient.”
The problem for me is that Will has never done a role that John C. Reilly couldn’t do better. When they are in the same movie I keep thinking JCR could do both roles and we could leave Will behind.
I did like Will in Stranger Than Fiction, mostly because that movie was written really well.
I could see making that case for Elf and Talladega Nights and Old School – I’m not saying you’re right, just that it’s arguable. But for Anchorman, no, I’m not seeing it.