Image Credit: Elliott Marks
It goes without saying that Will Ferrell is a funny guy, but the folks at the Kennedy Center want to say it anyway. On Oct. 23, Ferrell will be presented with the 14th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, an honor previously bestowed upon the likes of Tina Fey, Bill Cosby, and George Carlin.
In honor of Ferrell joining the ranks of the greats, I think it’s appropriate to remember his finest moments. Yes, there are many standouts (All hail the POTUS!; Ron Burgundy) but, I can’t help it: My favorite Will Ferrell role is the obvious pick, Frank the Tank from Old School. This is probably greatly influenced by my mother’s love for the scene I’ve embedded below (her reaction the first time we watched it was priceless), but I also liked that it was completely gimmick-free. No mustache, no gray wig, no elf costume. Just Ferrell doing comedy. Call me a purist.
Your turn, PopWatchers. What is your favorite Will Farrell role?
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In movies, he HAS no best role; his movies are terrible. (Haven’t seen the new one.)
He was great on SNL, in internet short films, and in talk-show appearances.
(Adam Sandler, who has also never made a good movie, wasn’t even funny on SNL. So Will gets the win there.)
Tool – Noun –
A) device or implement, esp. one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.
B)Joe Gillis, internet troll
Has to be Ashley Shaffer of Ashley Shaffer BMW (Eastbound and Down)!!
“Can you feel the tension? I can! I can feel it… down in my plums. They’re getting a nice bluish hue, gettin’ ready to take ‘em to the farmer’s market. ”
^_^
WOW, you have no sense of humor.
I will give you points for your name. However, based on the responses you’ve gotten, you may have the same fate as your character namesake…
I thought Will’s stage show on George W. Bush was hilarious. And I thought Adam Sandler was very funny in the movie Happy Gilmore.
hey sorry man, I doubt you’ve even seen some of sanders best movies. I agree that yes out of the maybe 30-40 films at least 90% are horrible namely grownups just go with it and well we all know them.
But I can promise you the mans got talent in the hands of a strong director: Paul Thomas Anderson. And the film is Punch-Drunk Love. Watch it and see how PT Anderson uses Sandlers sterotypical “anger” “child-like qualities” and “reserved self depreciation” to create a great character. I really think if you watch it you’ll be astounded by how Sandler pulls you into the characters head and makes you feel for him.
And saying Ferrell has no good films is debatable. I think that he showed what he can do with Stranger Than Fiction. If only he pursued roles like those more often. Same goes for Sandler.
Its definitely between Anchorman and Stranger Than Fiction for me. Those are both excellent films, in very different ways.
His role in (the underrated) Stranger Than Fiction.
This.
This award loses meaning with each passing year…
What you talking about, Jimmy Fallon won last year, and he’s soooooo funny@!!!111
At least Tina Fey could be justified. This… I have no idea.
I HAVE NO IDEA BUT I WILL TELL YOU HIS WORST ROLE EVER: DEANGELO VICKERS ON THE OFFICE. HOW HILARIOUSLY UNFUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agreed, though the fake juggling act was pretty damn funny. Fake juggling off of Phyllis’ face?? HILARIOUS!!!
Gotta be Ron Burgudy.
That movie is obviously incredibly quotable, but I actually think his performance in it is underrated in terms of the character he created.
On the other hand, his least funniest is easily Deangelo Vickers on “The Office.” That was just painful.
Completely agree on both!!! I mean, Ron Burgundy is obviously his best- he had a voice that would make a wolverine purr. His suits made Sinatra look like a hobo.
As for Deangelo…I’m not sure if I should blame him, the writers, or both, but that was awful.
That’s a good point. The writers definitely did him no favors.
Absolutely Ron Burgundy. Sad the sequel will never see the light of day. Stay classy San Diego!
Don’t watch the Office anymore, and I haven’t seen Semi Pro, so I’m an uninformed audience but I think Semi Pro looks more stupid than Deangelo. Woof.
I’d have to say Elf…
agreed… although I loved him in Stranger Than Fiction too!
I agree with you both! My two favorite Will Ferrell roles are from ‘Elf’ and ‘Stranger than Fiction’.
Ron Burgundy!! Love love love Anchorman.
MILK WAS A BAAAAAADDD CHOICE!!! But Ron Burgundy was a good one.
it certainly wasnt for The Other Guys that was one of the worse movies ever made!
Okay, I think it’s time to take Mark Twain’s name off this award before the spinning from his grave sparks an earthquake.
Wow…funniest role…hmmm
..Will Farrell? Yeah, the guy is hit and miss with me. I found him more funny on SNL then in his movie roles. So let’s see….Elf. Elf is probably the role I’ve enjoyed the most.
Thank you for walking us through your thought process. Fascinating.
Stream of consciousness haha
StepBrothers! All the way!
No doubt, that movie was hilarious.
That movie was EPIC funny.
“Why are you all sweaty?”
“I was watching cops…”
StepBrothers right up there with the best of them.
It could ONLY be the movie with the immortal line “Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means ‘a whale’s vagina.’”
Ricky Bobby FTW!!! Or Elf. Or Ron Burgundy. Love me some Will.
1 for Stepbrothers! So much room for activities!
Stranger than fiction.
Although he was more “serious” there than funny.
But that was a very good role.