You could say that the warning signs for Will Ferrell first appeared on Friday, when the nation’s critics blew raspberries and dogpiled on the comedy. Our own critic, Owen Gleiberman, gave the movie a C, writing, “the film’s only conviction is its investment in its total lack of conviction.” That’s gotta sting.
Still, I would argue that Ferrell’s box-office fate was sealed long before the movie even came out. For months, the trailers of the erstwhile SNL star’s riff on the not-very-good-to-begin-with ’70s Saturday morning kiddie TV show have been greeted by mild chuckles at best. It had the stink of death on it long before this weekend. If you found yourself laughing at all at the trailer, it was more out of conditioned response to Ferrell’s previous track record than the actual goods being sold this time around.
Anyone who’s honest with themselves has to admit that Ferrell hasn’t been all that funny for a while. Did you see his one-man George W. Bush show on HBO? Just painful. It was like watching someone shoot fish in a barrel for an hour and change. Step Brothers? Semi Pro? The dude’s been coasting for a while now. And the less said about The Producers and Bewitched, the better.
Land of the Lost is just the latest proof that Ferrell’s shtick — the clueless, self-deprecating blowhard man-child — is growing stale. You can put him in a NASCAR jumpsuit, a basketball uniform, or a quantum paleontologist’s khakis, but he’s pretty much always the same guy. You know that at some point he’ll take off his shirt and reveal his flabby belly, or dump dinosaur urine on his head, and then mug at the camera as if to say, Ain’t it hilarious? Well, yes it was…the first time.
Look, I like Will Ferrell. I think Anchorman may be the funniest movie of the past decade. So I’msaying this out of love: It’s time to change it up, man. Leftovers can be delicious, but sometimes you’ve got to dig into the pantry and serve up something fresh and new. Agree or disagree?
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Couldn’t disagree with you more. Land of the Lost looks awful, don’t get me wrong, and I don’t plan on seeing it, but Step Brothers was his best movie. His idiot-persona doesn’t get old, I thought he was hilarious on Conan earlier this week. So, he cashed in on a big budget crap fest? Big deal. Will Ferrell still brings the funny.
Ferrell’s a f-ucking hack just like Jack Black and Ben Stiller. None of them would know funny if it took a s-hit right on their heads. F-ucking morons.
Will Ferrell is a f-uckin-g hack…just like Jack Black and Ben Stiller. None of them would know funny if it took a s-hi-t on their heads. F-uckin-g lame.
I’ve never seen what the big deal was with Ferrell in the 1st place. He’s from the whole SNL form of comedy: make one joke milk it forever, and instead of filling in a lame skit on a TV show far past it’s prime (even in the late 90’s!), he tries to fill up a whole movie. The fact that he is horribly overexposed does him no favors. He is a one trick pony at this point, but he may still surprise us someday.
Could not agree more. Will Ferrell is the unfunny.
first!
ok, the first comment was my imitation of will ferrell… childish, inane and not at all funny.
I disagree. Will Ferrell’s still incredibly funny. Step Brothers, if watched like a normal movie, isn’t that good, but taken apart it’s hilarious. Same with Anchorman. And Step Brothers, a no-plot R-rated comedy, made $100 million, which is pretty solid.
Land of the Lost bombed because it looks like a bad movie, and apparently it is. If he comes back with something looser, fresher, and less restrained (and just funny) then people will definitely see it. Those just haven’t been the movies he’s been attached to for the past few years.
On another note, people are talking about how this is evidence that Year One will do poorly. But that’s just wrong. It’s a high-concept comedy but the trailers make people laugh, and that’s all that matters.
It is not that we are over Will – it is that the movie was marketed to families – the trailer has been before all the recent movies we have seen – then when it comes out it is too raunchy for families – both in situation and language. RIDICULOUS !!
I agree 49803840385935%. Thank you for finally saying something.
Ho, hum, I’m sorry, I just don’t see the facination with Will Farrell, or Adam Sandler or Jimmy Fallon et al, , , I’ve watched since the first show and the talent doesn’t near stand up to the old days. I haven’t laughed at anyone on that show since Chris Farley died. No spontanaiety, they all act like you owe them laughs.
Will Ferrel is one of the most overrated comedic actors ever. He’s one dimensional, he’s been the same character in all his movies. He’ll never be half the slapstick comedian as Chris Farley was.
I wish i could frame this article, because it is SOOOOOOO true, but I don’t think Will Ferrel deserves that much. I liked him in Zoolander and thats about it, even on SNL as trebek he was still the same guy
I PRAISE YOU!!!
for nailing it on the dot
Are you kidding? The HBO Bush Broadway show was hilarious and it earned universal praise when he performed it earlier this year. Farrell has more hits and misses, but this post seems too much like piling on than anything serious.
I couldn’t agree more with this article. The only movie I’ve liked Will Farrell in is ANCHORMAN. I think the whole “man-child” shtick in general is getting old! Look at Seth Rogen’s and Matthew McConaughey’s latest flicks too. They’ve also bombed. And they still keep playing the perpetual man-child. It’s time to grow up gentlemen.
Did no one watch Stranger Than Fiction? I loved that movie and it proved that Ferrell has some range. I’m not a huge fan of his schtick, but I won’t deny that he can act. And I agree with Rajah–would you turn down a multi-million dollar salary? Even Michael Caine does bad movies. It’s still a living.
1) Different movie, same jokes. Will Ferrell just does stream of concious humor. Whatever moderately innappropriate slighted thoughts pop in his head pop out of his mouth.
2) I think people lean towards premise these days. See “the hangover”. Those three arent leading men, but worked well together.
3) Will Farrell’s fans are young. They remember the shows remake on Nickelodeon and not the original show. And the remake sucked. Right time, wrong place Will.
I am so over Will Ferrell…I still like his older stuff when he was funny but he really needs to do something new. He is just kinda sad now…maybe retirement is calling?
If I wanted to, i would frame this article
because it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO true
Mugatu was good but thats about it
I PRAISE THIS ARTICLE
he plays the same people
and all those people who disagree your just angry its true
New rule: No commenting unless you can spell the subject of this article’s last name correctly.
Will Ferrell has mastered the art of sucking when it comes to acting.
LOTL is a badly written movie, and its doubtful that any lead actor could have saved it. Still, hopefully this will prompt Will Ferrell to move away from excessively dumb and gross “comedy” and return to the more clever stuff he’s capable of doing.
STEP BROTHERS WAS HILARIOUS. I CANT TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY AFTER YOU IMPLIED THAT MOVIE WASNT FUNNY. IT SEEMS YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR IS LIMITED. SOME OF WILLS CHARACTERS ARE A TIRED ACT AT THIS POINT I AGREE BUT STEP BROTHERS WAS GOLD.
Aside from “Elf,” I have never found Will Ferrell entertaining in any movie. I actually like him better in smaller doses. He was funny when he was on SNL. Once he has sustain something longer, he falls flat. He’s highly overrated.
Many of the points made in the article are bullsh*t; the Broadway show wasn’t “painful,” he had a small role in “The Producers,” and “Bewitched” isn’t that bad. He’s had flop films before and frankly, LOTL didn’t look all that entertaining. But he’s not over by any means.
He is funny…it’s just the same funny over and over. We want to see if he’s versatile. Can he make a joke without screaming or doing something creepy with his eyes?
I was one of the few people who went to see this movie. The reviews were horrible, but I love Ferrell and LOTL, and my little boy loves dinos. We had to give it a shot, and while my son loved it, it was pretty painful for me and his dad.
The problem wasn’t Will Ferrell, it was the forcing of LOTL – not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination – into the Ferrell format. In the original series, the setup wasn’t funny. The situations weren’t funny. It was sci-fi dino drama with some semblance of a message in each episode, some of which were written by genre gods like Larry Niven and Ben Bova. The show was designed to teach and inspire, not to be played for yuks.
LOTL deserved a redux like “Battlestar Galactica.” It should have been a dramatic, powerful examination of a father and his kids lost in a primitive world, without their mother, trying to maintain the family unit, sleestaks be damned.
Will Feral has never been funny. Glad to see America is finally catching on.
Will Feral has never been funny. Glad to see America is catching on.
With few exceptions any “actor” that came from SNL and ended up making movies usually convinces me that it will just end up a moronic, embarrasing piece of unfunny crap. Exactly how long are people willing to endure grown men acting like complete idiots and watching them keep on cranking out garbage grade d movies over and over again. These people can’t even make a 5 minute skit funny let alone make a decent movie. Someone even mentioned Michael Caine making bad movies…if anyone even remotely compares the 2 regarding acting quality…they really are smoking something.