Having just watched the Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis film The Campaign this past weekend, I have Will Ferrell on the brain. While I found The Campaign to be far from his greatest film, the viewing did cause my brother and I to start discussing what we felt was Ferrell’s greatest role in a film.
I am going to briefly mention of few of his films that I particularly enjoyed. Feel free to choose a film that I do not mention. However, please try to select a film in which he has a starring role and not just a cameo.
Elf (2003) Ferrell plays Buddy the Elf in this modern Christmas classic. An orphan who grew to be 6’3″ at the North Pole, Buddy has been raised by Elves. He sets out to New York City to find his real birth father. James Caan as Walter Hobbs plays a great straight man in this film as a foil for Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf. I usually end up watching this at least twice during the holidays.
* Sweet I get up this morning and 2/3 of my post has been sent to the nether world by WordPress. Anyhow here is the rest of the post and sorry for the delay in getting this together. *
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Will Ferrell stars as Ron Burgundy as newscaster in San Diego in the 1970′s. To call the newsroom chauvinistic would be a huge understatement. Burgundy’s world is turned upside down when a female is hired to work on his show. Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), both agitates and entrances Burgundy and turns his male centric world upside down in this highly quotable film with a great ensemble cast.
Step Brothers (2008) Will Ferrell stars with frequent collaborator John C. Reilly in this story of two middle-aged men who have avoided adulthood and are still living at home. They suddenly find themselves step brothers after their respective parents marry. Hijinks ensue as the two battle it out for their parents affection. This film also introduced the world to the Fucking Catalina Wine Mixer.
I realize that Ferrell is not everyone’s cup of tea with regards to his brand of comedy. It often seems people are rather polarized when it comes to this actor with folks either in the love him or loathe him camp. One thing I think we can all agree on is that he is the only decent thing to every come out of the suburban master planned hell hole that is Irvine California.
So todays question is what is your favorite Will Ferrell film? Or if you are not a fan of his comedy please explain why he is not your sort of comedian.
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Just to be perrrrfectly honest, I can’t stand Ferrell. BUT, that being said, I do get a kick out of “Elf”. It’s one of his absurd comedies that really, really cracks me up.
Elf is a good one Keith. Just wondering what is it about Ferrell that you don’t like?
Well, I know I’m in the minority in regards to Ferrell, but for me he’s a one-trick pony. Now I know he’s branched out a few times but his bread and butter are these preposterous and exaggerated roles. I like preposterous but his shtick is grating and repetitive (for me).
Keith are you saying that Will Ferrell is the Clint Eastwood of comedy?
No, no, no. Clint’s the man. In fact, in many ways I would say Clint Eastwood is considerably funnier to me than Ferrell. More importantly, I’m much more scared of Clint than Ferrell.
I am not a Will Ferrell fan. My favorite of the roles I’ve seen him in wasn’t really a comedic role — I kind of liked him as the quiet accountant in Stranger than Fiction. My kids enjoyed his over-the-top role as the crazy Nazi and wannabe playwright in the remake of The Producers.
Thanks for the comments Stephanie. What is it about Ferrells brand of comedy that turns you off? It seems you enjoy him more in more serious roles.
My opinion is similar to Morgan’s (below) — I feel he overacts and plays a limited range of roles.
Stephanie, for some reason it just takes one look at Ferrell to get me cracking up. I guess i just like that sense of humor. Although, I can see why others might not care for it.
Adam, I think humor is a very individual thing, which makes me admire the work comedic writers and actors do all the more. My whole family really enjoys Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell, and that movie just makes me cringe. On the other hand, there are some really stupid comedies that have really grown on me. My daughter definitely doesn’t understand my attraction to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like beauty, humor is in the eye of the beholder, and you can’t really explain or analyze it. Well, you can, but it would kind of kill the joke.
His best movie? Everything Must Go. Would love to see him take on more dramatic roles.
His best comedy has to be Anchorman. Nothing else really stands out for me.
BTW, I finally got around to answering your Liebster questions (and 77 others)
OMG Eric how many of those Liebster awards did you get lol. Your not going to have enough room on your virtual awards shelf to hold them all.
I really liked Anchorman, will be interesting to see how they pull off Anchorman 2
I am a Will Ferrell fan through and through, I cannot even look at the man without laughing. Anchorman is one of my favorites but I have to mention Step Brothers, Talladega Nights as must see’s in my opinion. If you have not seen him do Harry Caray on SNL then you are missing out on some pure comedy.
Scott Talladega Nights is comedic gold IMO. I also love all the cameos he does, he was great in Wedding Crashers and I love his role on Eastbound and Down.
Chaz in Wedding Crashers is certainly worth mentioning.
I’m Ron Burgundy?
San Diego is spanish for whale’s vagina.
I think he is extraordinarily talented, but I’m not a huge fan of a lot of his movies. I don’t think a fair number of them do justice to his talent. That and his movie roles where he is the lead usually seem to be a variation of the same kind of character. I prefer when he has smaller appearances and SNL is his best work.
I second Everything Must Go. And Anchorman. I really like him as the ranger in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Nic I had stopped watching SNL long before he started on the show. I should check out that best of Will Ferrell SNL disk at some point.
I’m not a big fan of Ferrell; he over-emotes, and he seems to have just two basic types of roles, the sarcastic stupid twit and the just plain stupid twit. I did like Stranger Than Fiction, though, so maybe if he learns to break from that mold more he can be a semi-decent actor.
That is the same complaint I have about Will Smith lol
UGH…the hard questions!!!! It’s a tie….Zoolander and Old School. I just like when Will Ferrell acts over the top and not Jim Carey over the top. Every time Will Ferrell acts stupid, he makes it seem acceptable. No, that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, I don’t know what I mean. I just like when he acts over the top, which is always.
Nothing wrong with a Tie Jen as those are both really funny movies. I think I just like Ferrell’s brand of stupid.
I would also go with Elf as my all time favorite role. Anchorman/ Ricky Bobby comes in as a close second. By the way I nominated your blog for the Liebster award. You can find out more by clicking on the link for my blog.
Elf is a good choice Sean. Thanks for the Liebster award, however we just completed a few of those last week so we will have to politely decline.
No problem, I totally understand!
I’m for Stranger Than Fiction, like Carell in Ruby Sparks and even Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love all three are convincing doing more dramatic roles. When was the last time you saw Robin Williams in a good comedy but you can’t forget him in Good Will Hunting.
I hear what you saying Mark, Williams is certainly one of those actors who needs a powerful director to keep him in check. I actually watched the Fisher King recently and he is pretty awesome in that as well. I am however a huge fan of Good Will Hunting.
I know I’m one of the few on this but I really can’t stand Will Ferrell. His brand of humour just doesn’t cut it for but if I had to pick… I mean HAD to pick, I’d go for Elf. Great little seasonal film that despite featuring an actor I don’t really admire, I was taken with it.
Mark are you picking Elf cause it stars James Caan and a young, blonde, Zooey Deschanel in it?
I don’t mind a bit of Deshannel that’s for sure but I’ll admit that Ferrell was actually quite funny. But yes, okay, I’ll pick it just for the lovely Zooey.
I tend to avoid any Will Ferrell movie where he plays an idiot – which is pretty much every movie he makes (ditto with Adam Sandler). Luckily he had a change of pace with Stranger Than Fiction and it turned out to be a really good movie. It’s easily my favorite film of his.
Intellectually I know that Stranger than Fiction is his best quality movie, and I hope he does more movies like that one now that we know he is capable of such. But God help me, I really enjoy him best as Frank the Tank in Old School. Anchorman is great too, of course.
I like Will Ferrell. I can see how he can be annoying with his loud and obnoxious schtick but he has made some of the most hilarious comedies in the last decade IMO. Certainly there has been a lot of duds but Anchorman, Step Brothers, Elf and Stranger than Fiction are all a-ok in my book.
“Anchor Man” and “Talladega Nights” were my two favorites, although admittedly the supporting casts in both these movies helped. I haven’t seen “Stranger than Fiction” yet; my Will Ferrell experience is limited to his comedy acting.
I love Will, especially his over-the-top stuff, and I know this is very subjective because to me, Will comes across as likable while someone like Jim Carey seems obnoxious when he does the same stuff. Along the same lines, I liked Adam Sandler less in his funny movies. They tend to be a little TOO dumb for my taste … and I could do without another cameo by Rob Schneider. I think Adam Sandler’s more serious roles were quite good; I was very surprised how much I liked “Punch Drunk Love.”
But back to Will Farrell — he’s just ridiculous, but in a good way (at least to me). I don’t know what he’s doing with his eyes; is he naturally cross-eyed or is that an affect he puts on? Either way, it adds something to his bits.
“I’m gonna punch you in the ovary, that’s what I’m gonna do. A straight shot. Right to the babymaker.”
We still use that phrase in our daily lives. Yes. We are strange.
In a serious role–Stranger Than Fiction–I love that film!