Recently I watched two Will Ferrell movies, one that was an incredible waste of time and the other that was actually pretty good. The first one I watched, The Legend of Ron Burgundy, put me to sleep, which is probably just the classic passive-aggressive rating I have for, "This movie has nothing going for it and there's no reason for me to stick around for the ending, and I'd have a much better time resting my heavy, heavy ... eyeszzzzz ..." The jokes were pretty bad. By the time I fell asleep, I was thinking to myself that Will Ferrell has really not been in any funny movies whatsoever. Since this was about news anchors battling over news stories, and I have an interest in journalism, I thought that at least that part would interest me. It took place in the 1970s when females apparently were not news anchors, and Christina Applegate's character was trying to break into traditionally male territory. I don't know if the ending would have made the whole movie worthwhile or not, because I just couldn't make it that far.
Even though my mind was made up about Will Ferrell being not funny at all, I nevertheless gave "Old School" a chance. I didn't think that the back story would interest me that much -- a bunch of guys trying to fit in as a fraternity on fraternity row, but Luke Wilson's character had depth. He was intelligent, a little reserved, and didn't mind getting into the fun and wasn't completely rejecting the let's-be-a-fraternity-even-though-we're-not-in-college idea. And Will Ferrell actually made me laugh. Out loud. I could pity him and laugh at his jokes and understand him at all different parts in the movie, which is what the viewer is supposed to feel. It worked.
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2 comments:
Glad you liked Old School. It's one of my favorites.
I liked Ron Burgandy, too. But I think Ferrell is an acquired taste. Burgandy is funny to me in how the character uses language, and the stereotyped ideals he holds, but thinks he doesn't. Will Ferrell's at his best when his character is a contradiction.
That whole cheerleader thing on SNL was never funny. I mean, never that funny. I guess MAYBE one or two of the sketches were OK. Elf was not funny at all. Blades of Glory was pretty idiotic.
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