Will Ferrell, cinematic Anti-Christ?

[Cthulhu]

I like A night at roxbury. I don't remember seeing him in anything other than that.

[Kester Pelagius]

Sounds like I'm the only one here who never thought any of Will Ferrell's annoying SNL characters were entertaining, much less funny or worth wasting money on a feature length film?

He does an decent George Bush impression though.  His appearances as W on Jay Leno were always funny.  Sadly I haven't seen any of the movies mentioned so far.  They had no appeal for me.  Few SNL skits turned into movies do.  I guess it's just a matter of taste.  Then again after sitting through some of Chevy Chase's wastes of celluloid I just started avoiding films with SNL alum in them.

Which isn't to say I've not seen any of Mr. Ferrell's movies.  I watched BLADES OF GLORY when it popped up on Starz (or whatever it was).  It's an okay movie, then again Ferrell isn't the lead he's part of a duo, but I would never buy this on DVD or waste money to see it in a theatre.

Just me?

[3mnkids]

I don't care for Ferrell. His kind of humor just doesn't appeal to me. That being said, I don't blame him for the garbage that is land of the lost. Im more disgusted with Hollywood and their need to green light anything and everything to make a buck.

[element19_98]

watch rob shnieder in "big stan" it also stars the late david carradine,i think some of you guys may really like his role in that one.i found it hilarious.

[Javakoala]

I use Will Ferrell to determine a person's film credibility. If they tell me they LOVE Will Ferrell's comedies, then I tend not to believe them outright if they tell me something is really fun to watch.  I don't hate the guy, but...just stop already, man.  Are you THAT hard-up for freaking money? Get an agent with some brains!

[Saucerman]

I'd tolerate Will Ferrell better if he wasn't freaking everywhere.  I just feel oversaturated with Will Ferrell -- same with Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Christian Bale.  Take a break guys. 

[blu_clover]

There have been some Will Ferrell movies that I've really enjoyed, but Land Of The Lost simply wasn't one of them. It has a few funny moments, and some pretty good set pieces, but whatever semblance of the S&M Kroft series ends with the Sleestak, their cave hideout, Grumpy the Tyrannosaur, and to a lesser extent Alice the Allosaurus.

The dinosaurs are all right, there's no Jar Jar... I mean Dopey, but we get Cha-Ka so its a toss-up. The Sleestak while integral to the plot seem to just be thrown in as an afterthought, but Enik is there.

The majority of the film though is merely set ups for a lot of lame gay jokes, and sexual innuendo that was just not appropriate for a film that is being marketed to kids in a big way. I'm in no way a prude, but having someone translate the effects of drinking a narcotic gourd in the film is like having your intestine punctured by a zombie d**k is not exactly what I was expecting out of a kids show. Will Ferrell is simply the biggest target for the critics because his performance was completely tongue in check and routine for him not a stretch of his abilities at all.

One thing I thought was weird was the end credits had some pretty solid graphics while the beginning of the film simply had the title then jumped straight into it. It would have been slightly better if they had used these at the beginning to sort of get the audience into at least the feel of seeing an adventure movie, but then again maybe that would have been too misleading. Someone mentioned Brendan Frasier, and as indifferent as I am to those Mummy films, that style of film making would have been light years ahead of this mess.

I agree with all of this. Plus he seemed to really phone it in, in my opinion. Sometimes I wonder if actors have to do certain films even if they don't want to.

I took my 8 year old son to see it because he seen the previews on t.v. and he kept saying he wanted to go see it. I'm not an uptight person either. Heck, my son watches Family Guy...but at times I felt like a bad mom in the theater when certain things were said in the movie. And I wasn't the only person that brought their kid. There weren't many laughs in the theater not even from the kids. It's one of those movies that you ask yourself...why was it made? Cause you left the theater not mad but you just felt like you didn't see anything.

[HappyGilmore]

Ferrel's OK by me.  I don't like his sort of movies, but he was good on SNL and he doesn't annoy me like Sandler, Schnieder, etc.

I guess snide Hollywood-insider types are jumping on him because LotL looks to be a bomb and they smell blood in the water.  Or maybe he isn't well liked personally and his enemies were waiting for him to fail. 

I like Sandler.  Eh.

[AndyC]

Most of the SNL alums are fine in small doses. For me, Rob Schneider was at his best as comic relief for Stallone. And it makes sense, since they made their careers doing sketch comedy. We get short, intense bursts of comedy, not a full hour and a half of shtick. That's not to say it doesn't work. Ferrell, Mike Myers and others have turned out good feature-length comedies.

The problem is when these guys become stars. Well, the first problem is when the ones who might do all right as character actors in supporting roles, such as Schneider, try to go the star route, and only manage to star in crap. The ones who actually do succeed in leading roles, such as Ferrell, then get put into movies that are outside their range as actors, where the name counted more than a good casting choice. And then you get Myers, who managed to take it a step further and actually got enough respect as a star to do whatever he wants, then made the freaking Love Guru.

Give me the old SNL alums any day. Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Billy Crystal, even Chevy Chase in his prime. Any of those guys could handle a leading role. I'd even give Lovitz credit for sticking to what he does best and always managing to entertain. He apparently learned his lesson after starring in High School High and he excels as a character actor.

A lot of people launched their careers from SNL, largely because they were talented and innovative to have created a show that was very unconventional in its time. But somewhere along the line, somebody got the idea that SNL automatically leads to stardom, regardless of ability, and in spite of the fact that the SNL style of sketch comedy is much more common after 30 years. Doesn't make sense.

[HappyGilmore]

I like A night at roxbury. I don't remember seeing him in anything other than that.

That's shocking that you haven't seen any other of his movies, considering he seems to have a new one out ever month and a half or so.

I'd tolerate Will Ferrell better if he wasn't freaking everywhere.  I just feel oversaturated with Will Ferrell -- same with Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Christian Bale.  Take a break guys. 

He does have a crapload of movies out.  Main reason, I think, is cause college kids found him funny on SNL, and when he did a movie, it made a bunch of money.  So when he left SNL, kids couldn't watch him on tv and all of a sudden Hollywood was like, "Strike while the iron is hot."  So he made like, 20 movies in about 3 years and now it's oversaturated to the point where I think the popularity of the "Frat Pack" is starting to wane.  You notice all those guys keep making movies together?  It's always the Wilsons, Stiller, Ferrell, Carell, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd all in each others movies?  That can get kinda tiring to see after a while, and I'm a fan.

[Kester Pelagius]

AndyC & HappyGilmore are probably right, it's oversaturation and audience fatigue.  It may not directly be Will Ferrell's fault, but if not him, who?  Ultimately it's HIS choice to star in the same carbon copy cookie cutter movie vehicles.  Most actors don't want to get type cast but it seems like Mr. Ferrell is content to play the same mentally challenged loud mouth self-absorbed boy-man over and over again.  But when you're doing a characterization that niche you have to be picky with your scripts and make sure the character fits the part.

You would not cast Will Ferrell in a GOR movie as the lead, Tarl Cabot, would you?  Of course not.  Although. .

 

[HappyGilmore]

AndyC & HappyGilmore are probably right, it's oversaturation and audience fatigue.  It may not directly be Will Ferrell's fault, but if not him, who?  Ultimately it's HIS choice to star in the same carbon copy cookie cutter movie vehicles.  Most actors don't want to get type cast but it seems like Mr. Ferrell is content to play the same mentally challenged loud mouth self-absorbed boy-man over and over again.  But when you're doing a characterization that niche you have to be picky with your scripts and make sure the character fits the part.

You would not cast Will Ferrell in a GOR movie as the lead, Tarl Cabot, would you?  Of course not.  Although. .

 

It's indirectly Ferrell's fault, to a degree.  Basically, he does show glimpses of being a semi decent comic actor who can branch out.  HOWEVER, the movies in which he does branch out (Melinda and Melinda, Bewitched, Stranger Than Fiction), they underperform at the box office, and he potentially loses fans.

Same thing with Sandler and Jim Carrey.  Carrey shows some acting chops on occasion (Truman Show, Man on The Moon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) come to mind.  But they usually seem to underperform, as his fans want the comedy aspect like Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber, etc.  And they seem to be blockbusters. 

So, I don't think it's so much the actor's 'choice' to be the same sort of character in every movie.  Seems to be a fan thing as well, as they seem less accepting of them in other roles.

[Jack]

Give me the old SNL alums any day. Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Billy Crystal, even Chevy Chase in his prime. Any of those guys could handle a leading role.

Here here!  Well, except for Steve Martin and Billy Crystal    The other four are favorites of mine.

[HappyGilmore]

Give me the old SNL alums any day. Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Billy Crystal, even Chevy Chase in his prime. Any of those guys could handle a leading role.

Here here!  Well, except for Steve Martin and Billy Crystal    The other four are favorites of mine.

All good, really.  But I think it's generational too.  Me personally, I love the originals (although, never actually saw the show when they were on), and love the 'later' cast too.  I started watchin SNL during the late '80s-mid '90s cast like Norm MacDonald (hilarious dude), Sandler, Phil Hartman (one of the most underrated cast members, EVER), etc and felt they were great together.

[ghouck]

I just don't get why so many people like him so much. He's OK, the thing I liked him best in was when he did the voice for Bob Oblong in the cartoon. I just can't see why people rave about Taledega Nights, it's a below average movie, and most of the funny stuff wasn't him.