This is exactly right. So many times -- I noticed this first in Talladega Nights -- he's on the cusp of being really, really funny, but rather than push himself to write a little more, he tries to carry the scene by running around and yelling. It's not that he's terrible, it's that I think he has way more potential than he ever realizes. he's lazy.
I liked that fine. More for the movie and his attractive co-star than him. They reined him the fuck in for once. Or he did it himself. Whatever it was, good choice.
One of the three funniest movies I've ever seen. Soooo many situations that left me pissing my pants laughing, not to mention some of the uncomfortable humor involved.
I'm going to laugh if the Hangover makes more money than any Ferrell comedy other than Elf, and that doesn't really count...
Step Brothers was two hours of forced awkwardness. Will Ferrell trying too hard to be funny. Will Ferrell was at his finest when he was doing something new. That's why Anchorman and Old School were great. But now he just acts like a retard and runs around in his underwear. Or says the word balls. The underwear bit was funny once. Not anymore. The concept of a 40-year-old man acting like a 12-year-old has been played out. He's done it like 10 times now. Okay, we get it. WE GET IT. Superbad works because it is teenagers being dumbasses. It's Dazed and Confused meets the new millennium. I expect 18-year olds to say balls, talk about boobs, and get in trouble for boozing on the weekends. It's funny. But not when Will Ferrell does it because before Step Brothers, I've seen Will Ferrell act like a 13-year old at least five other times. -Anchorman -Old School -Kicking and Screaming -Semi-Pro -The Dumb Ice Skating Flick -Elf - yes, Elf counts. The hangover is unique, it's taken new characters, not the same recycled actors and made some genuine laughs. They didn't muck it up by putting Ferrel in it. Galikinakis was solid.
I kind of disagree with that. Will Ferrell acted like a 12-year-old in Stepbrothers because that was the point of the movie. He acted like a child in Elf because that was the point. I disagree with the assertion that he acted like a 12-year-old in those other movies. In Old School, he acted like a man in the middle of a mid-life crisis. To me, it's the most relatable character he's ever done. "Once it hits your lips, it's so good" -- I totally relate to that. In Anchorman, he acted like a 40-year-old man with an inflated sense of self-importance. In Talledega Nights, he acted like a dumbass redneck. Not a 12-year-old. Kicking and Screaming spoofed overzealous soccer parents. It did not spoof 12-year-olds. I'm not saying the guy is Laurence Olivier. I just don't believe his movies all his movies are "a 40-year-old man acting 12." Ferrell has said before that most of his movie characters (Ron Burgundy, Jackie Moon, Chazz Michaels) are an off-shoot of his George W. Bush character ... a man with a needlessly inflated self-esteem. Morons who only think they are the smartest man in the room.
We caught the matinee in Orlando the other day. About 20 people in the theatre. Great, great, great, great movie. Can't say it enough. Zach what's his name was out-fucking-standing. Love that guy ever since he played Alan Finger in the short-lived Dog Bites Man on Comedy Central. The only thing missing in The Hangover was an "Up in them guts" reference. I'll definitely see it again. And maybe again after that.
The theater I was in was pretty near packed, teens on up. I've never seen my honey laugh so much. Yes, this movie is going to make a pile of money.
