View Poll Results: Is Will Ferrell funny?
Yes
104
68.42%
No
48
31.58%
Voters: 152. You may not vote on this poll
Is Will Ferrell funny?
#1
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Is Will Ferrell funny?
Found this article a while back...
http://www.thephatphree.com/features...StoryYear=2005
I'm apparently in the minority in thinking that Ferrell isn't very funny...just wondering what you guys think.
All the recent press hoopla over the new comedy Wedding Crashers has gotten me thinking about that one corner of film comedy that has gotten rather insular of late. I’m talking about movies like Zoolander, Old School, Starsky and Hutch, Dodgeball, and Anchorman, where it’s all pretty much the same bunch of guys who get together to have fun, screw around, and not take the whole filmmaking process very seriously. I’m not disparaging the phenomenon, because for the most part the actors in these movies let us, the audience, in on the joke. I realized that there’s only one other group in the history of entertainment that was able to get by relying so purely on charisma and moxie: The Rat Pack. Sadly, my generation mostly knew the Rat Pack as a bunch of old fossils that our parents and grandparents liked. Until I was 17, the only thing I knew about Sammy Davis Jr. was that he stole Jim Henson’s thunder by dying on the same day. So I say that our generation needs it’s own band of merry men, who may enjoy success with their individual projects, but who are the most fun when two or three of them get together and just cut loose. I had made the attempt to officially dub them “The Frat Pack”, based on their appeal among the collegiate crowd, but apparently that term has been around for some time and I'd never encountered it. Luckily, some of our kind readers were able to politely point this out to me in comments section, so I'm revising my statement here and rescinding my claim to having coined the term. Still, one wonders if the appellation is appropriate, so I'm listing and comparing the men in question here, ranked with their Rat Pack counterparts.
1. Vince Vaughn- Frank Sinatra: This is a bit of a stretch, but stay with me here. Vince exudes the kind of laid-back, confident cool that Frank personified. Both are just slightly awkward-looking, and both have the most capacity for dramatic work as well. Now, I’m not suggesting that Vince is the same kind of all-around entertainer that Frank was, but every pack needs a leader, and Vince just screams Alpha male. I did see Vince sing once on "Saturday Night Live" and either he was trying to sing well, or deliberately singing badly to heighten the comedic effect. In either case, he failed. Still, Frankie never had to deal with a CGI dinosaur, so it’s an even trade-off.
2. Owen Wilson- Dean Martin: These are the guys who seem alternately quirkier and more collected than the leader. They both display a bizarre combination of Slacker and Hipster mentalities that I will hereby dub “Slackster”. Dean made playing drunk both funny and believable, and if there’s anyone who looks and acts more consistently stoned than Owen then I haven’t seen him (all right, except maybe Jim Breuer). Plus, there’s also the fact that they both enjoyed their first big film successes when paired with awkward, wildly physical guys who didn’t have such a great command of the language (that’s Jerry Lewis and Jackie Chan respectively).
He's got the attitude
3. Ben Stiller- Sammy Davis Jr.: This is actually a closer match than immediately seems obvious. In both cases, these are the shortest guys in the bunch. Also, they’re the most ethnic. Going deeper, we can see that they both have the most hyphens in their respective titles, Sammy being an actor-comic-singer-dancer, and Ben being an actor-writer-director-producer. But on a more socially relevant level, we see that they both achieved the most unpredictable success in their careers. Who would have guessed that middle America would have given their hearts to Sammy Davis Jr., a smart-alecky negro with a funny eye. Likewise, we have Ben Stiller, a snarky, slightly Sephardic little alt-comedy auteur who went on to star in the highest-grossing film comedy ever. Even my parents have heard of him, and that’s saying a lot. These two are like אפונה in a pod.
4. Luke Wilson- Peter Lawford: Here’s where I have to plead ignorance. Of the guys on the list, these are two whose work I’m the least familiar with. Yet, in a way, that’s a parallel. I haven’t seen any of Luke Wilson’s more high-profile projects, and the ones I have seen weren’t exactly box office gold (Dog Park, anyone? How about Kill the Man with Joshua Malina? Just me then? Okay). The only thing I’ve ever seen with Peter Lawford in it was when they did Angels’ Revenge on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". My point is that neither one of them is much of a draw. Although I’ve never been turned off from a movie because Luke Wilson was in it, I’ve also never picked up a DVD and said “Ooh! Luke Wilson! This I gotta see!” According to the people over fifty that I asked, Lawford’s got the same vibe going.
5. Will Ferrell- Joey Bishop: The dregs. Here we’ve got the guys who aren’t really funny, but they get invited to the party anyway. Maybe they’ve got the best hooker connection or something. Or perhaps Will Ferrell pushed Vince Vaughn out of the way of an oncoming bus once. Still, for whatever reason, Will and Joey have managed to grab hold of the gravitas and they’re hanging on for dear life. I realize that I may be in the minority in not finding Will Ferrell funny, and I could go on at great length about why I think that way, but this isn’t the time or place (see my upcoming article “Will Ferrell is Not Funny and Never Was and Here’s Why”). I do get a little despondent over the fact that Joey is the last Rat Packer who’s still alive, but it’s important to keep in mind that the only time we’ve seen him in the past fifteen years is when he’s sitting on his couch in a jogging suit being interviewed about whichever member of the Rat Pack died most recently. So, get ready for that, Will. I recommend something from the John Blair collection. They’re economical, easy to clean, and they have elastic waistbands.
I could go on and stretch the metaphor further, comparing Christine Taylor to Angie Dickinson, for instance, or try and squeeze Jason Bateman into the mix, but part of the appeal of the Rat Pack was their simplicity. They were who they were and they filled those roles well. Now, at last, my generation will have it’s own version. Now if I can just convince them to start up a Vegas lounge act…
1. Vince Vaughn- Frank Sinatra: This is a bit of a stretch, but stay with me here. Vince exudes the kind of laid-back, confident cool that Frank personified. Both are just slightly awkward-looking, and both have the most capacity for dramatic work as well. Now, I’m not suggesting that Vince is the same kind of all-around entertainer that Frank was, but every pack needs a leader, and Vince just screams Alpha male. I did see Vince sing once on "Saturday Night Live" and either he was trying to sing well, or deliberately singing badly to heighten the comedic effect. In either case, he failed. Still, Frankie never had to deal with a CGI dinosaur, so it’s an even trade-off.
2. Owen Wilson- Dean Martin: These are the guys who seem alternately quirkier and more collected than the leader. They both display a bizarre combination of Slacker and Hipster mentalities that I will hereby dub “Slackster”. Dean made playing drunk both funny and believable, and if there’s anyone who looks and acts more consistently stoned than Owen then I haven’t seen him (all right, except maybe Jim Breuer). Plus, there’s also the fact that they both enjoyed their first big film successes when paired with awkward, wildly physical guys who didn’t have such a great command of the language (that’s Jerry Lewis and Jackie Chan respectively).
He's got the attitude
3. Ben Stiller- Sammy Davis Jr.: This is actually a closer match than immediately seems obvious. In both cases, these are the shortest guys in the bunch. Also, they’re the most ethnic. Going deeper, we can see that they both have the most hyphens in their respective titles, Sammy being an actor-comic-singer-dancer, and Ben being an actor-writer-director-producer. But on a more socially relevant level, we see that they both achieved the most unpredictable success in their careers. Who would have guessed that middle America would have given their hearts to Sammy Davis Jr., a smart-alecky negro with a funny eye. Likewise, we have Ben Stiller, a snarky, slightly Sephardic little alt-comedy auteur who went on to star in the highest-grossing film comedy ever. Even my parents have heard of him, and that’s saying a lot. These two are like אפונה in a pod.
4. Luke Wilson- Peter Lawford: Here’s where I have to plead ignorance. Of the guys on the list, these are two whose work I’m the least familiar with. Yet, in a way, that’s a parallel. I haven’t seen any of Luke Wilson’s more high-profile projects, and the ones I have seen weren’t exactly box office gold (Dog Park, anyone? How about Kill the Man with Joshua Malina? Just me then? Okay). The only thing I’ve ever seen with Peter Lawford in it was when they did Angels’ Revenge on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". My point is that neither one of them is much of a draw. Although I’ve never been turned off from a movie because Luke Wilson was in it, I’ve also never picked up a DVD and said “Ooh! Luke Wilson! This I gotta see!” According to the people over fifty that I asked, Lawford’s got the same vibe going.
5. Will Ferrell- Joey Bishop: The dregs. Here we’ve got the guys who aren’t really funny, but they get invited to the party anyway. Maybe they’ve got the best hooker connection or something. Or perhaps Will Ferrell pushed Vince Vaughn out of the way of an oncoming bus once. Still, for whatever reason, Will and Joey have managed to grab hold of the gravitas and they’re hanging on for dear life. I realize that I may be in the minority in not finding Will Ferrell funny, and I could go on at great length about why I think that way, but this isn’t the time or place (see my upcoming article “Will Ferrell is Not Funny and Never Was and Here’s Why”). I do get a little despondent over the fact that Joey is the last Rat Packer who’s still alive, but it’s important to keep in mind that the only time we’ve seen him in the past fifteen years is when he’s sitting on his couch in a jogging suit being interviewed about whichever member of the Rat Pack died most recently. So, get ready for that, Will. I recommend something from the John Blair collection. They’re economical, easy to clean, and they have elastic waistbands.
I could go on and stretch the metaphor further, comparing Christine Taylor to Angie Dickinson, for instance, or try and squeeze Jason Bateman into the mix, but part of the appeal of the Rat Pack was their simplicity. They were who they were and they filled those roles well. Now, at last, my generation will have it’s own version. Now if I can just convince them to start up a Vegas lounge act…
I'm apparently in the minority in thinking that Ferrell isn't very funny...just wondering what you guys think.
Last edited by MartinBlank; 02-16-07 at 12:35 AM.
#8
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Building attractions one theme park at a time.
Posts: 10,800
Received 82 Likes
on
49 Posts
Stewie doesn't think so:
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/grm8QR013ds"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/grm8QR013ds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/grm8QR013ds"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/grm8QR013ds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
Last edited by The Valeyard; 02-16-07 at 11:57 AM.
#9
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,664
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think the Onion AV Club summed it up best when they said that Ferrell approaches his roles with a Method actor-like intensity. That, I think, is what sets him apart from his contemporaries, the willingness to completely throw himself into the part no matter what it calls for, and just plain go fucking nuts, which sometimes allows the scene to reach some perhaps untapped comic potential.
This is in contrast to people like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, both of whom I like, but I often think they're holding something back in their scenes. Or someone like Ben Stiller, who is more or less stuck in the same type of role in all his movies (The Uptight Neroutic), yet was very funny in Dodgeball, where he got to cut loose.
So, that's my long-winded way of saying yes, I think Ferrell is funny.
This is in contrast to people like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, both of whom I like, but I often think they're holding something back in their scenes. Or someone like Ben Stiller, who is more or less stuck in the same type of role in all his movies (The Uptight Neroutic), yet was very funny in Dodgeball, where he got to cut loose.
So, that's my long-winded way of saying yes, I think Ferrell is funny.
#10
DVD Talk Godfather
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Gateway Cities/Harbor Region
Posts: 63,365
Received 1,852 Likes
on
1,145 Posts
Originally Posted by GreenVulture
I think the Onion AV Club summed it up best when they said that Ferrell approaches his roles with a Method actor-like intensity. That, I think, is what sets him apart from his contemporaries, the willingness to completely throw himself into the part no matter what it calls for, and just plain go fucking nuts, which sometimes allows the scene to reach some perhaps untapped comic potential.
This is in contrast to people like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, both of whom I like, but I often think they're holding something back in their scenes. Or someone like Ben Stiller, who is more or less stuck in the same type of role in all his movies (The Uptight Neroutic), yet was very funny in Dodgeball, where he got to cut loose.
So, that's my long-winded way of saying yes, I think Ferrell is funny.
This is in contrast to people like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, both of whom I like, but I often think they're holding something back in their scenes. Or someone like Ben Stiller, who is more or less stuck in the same type of role in all his movies (The Uptight Neroutic), yet was very funny in Dodgeball, where he got to cut loose.
So, that's my long-winded way of saying yes, I think Ferrell is funny.
Great post. Will's willingness to go all out no matter how ridiculous it makes him look is great. Like anything else it's hit or miss but you just feel like he's giving it his all no matter what.
Last edited by Giantrobo; 02-16-07 at 02:15 PM.
#11
Will Ferrell is so overrated. He was good on SNL, but nowhere the talent of Belushi, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, or even Carvey or Hartman. The problem is the press loves him and thinks he is the greatest comedian, and all his comedies are OK, but wont be remembered 10 years from now.
Just think of comedies like Caddyshack, Stripes, 48 Hours, and Animal House, from many members of the first 10 years of SNL, and then think of Elf and Old School, and tell me if they are even close to as funny?
Just think of comedies like Caddyshack, Stripes, 48 Hours, and Animal House, from many members of the first 10 years of SNL, and then think of Elf and Old School, and tell me if they are even close to as funny?
#13
DVD Talk Hero - 2023 TOTY Award Winner
Originally Posted by GreenVulture
I think the Onion AV Club summed it up best when they said that Ferrell approaches his roles with a Method actor-like intensity. That, I think, is what sets him apart from his contemporaries, the willingness to completely throw himself into the part no matter what it calls for, and just plain go fucking nuts, which sometimes allows the scene to reach some perhaps untapped comic potential...
Ben Stiller, on the other hand, virtually always misses with me. I used to enjoy his TV show, however.
#15
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: My Car
Posts: 6,750
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Chew
I appreciate the roles where he's a secondary character, then I think he's funny. When he's the lead, it gets to be way too much.
#16
DVD Talk Godfather
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: City of the lakers.. riots.. and drug dealing cops.. los(t) Angel(e)s. ca.
Posts: 54,199
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema
Will Ferrell is funny.
Dane Cook is not funny.
thanks
Dane Cook is not funny.
thanks
no, thank you. head of nail, meet hammer.
#19
DVD Talk Legend
Just think of comedies like Caddyshack, Stripes, 48 Hours, and Animal House, from many members of the first 10 years of SNL, and then think of Elf and Old School, and tell me if they are even close to as funny?
#20
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: H-Town, TX
Posts: 3,662
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Is Will Ferrell capable of being funny? Absolutely. And he usually is. But like all actors/comedians who churn out as many skits and films as he does, some are duds.
#22
DVD Talk Hero
I've enjoyed him in all his bigger comedies (Talladega Nights, Anchorman, Elf) and even in some of his more serious things (Stranger than Fiction, Melinda and Melinda), so he's pretty well rounded. And yes, he's funny.
#24
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Sesame Street (the apt. next to Bob's)
Posts: 20,195
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes
on
6 Posts
Originally Posted by JustinS
I would have to agree with that. The work that he does is hit or miss with me...mostly miss, but he does make me laugh and I do admire his lack of inhibition when he performs on TV and in films.
Ben Stiller, on the other hand, virtually always misses with me. I used to enjoy his TV show, however.
Ben Stiller, on the other hand, virtually always misses with me. I used to enjoy his TV show, however.
And comparing Vince Vaughn to Frank Sinatra is fucking blasphemy unlike any that has ever been uttered.
#25
Moderator
Ferrell is hilarious. He may have the best comedic timing of anybody working in film today.
But it's not worth debating. It's not like anything I could write would cause people to suddenly watch Anchorman or the like and find it funny where they didn't before.
But it's not worth debating. It's not like anything I could write would cause people to suddenly watch Anchorman or the like and find it funny where they didn't before.