Whether as a comedian, dramatic actor, committed producer or screenwriter of his own films and sketch, Will Ferrell’s work is making its mark on popular culture and remains more active than ever. He went through The Office (2011), was the voice of Megamind (Megamind, 2010) and recently premiered on Netflix his last film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020). With a dozen titles on the way, he never stops giving us hourly entertainment and asserting his place as one of the standout comedians of the last two decades. Here we review what are those films that we consecrate and never get tired of watching:
Zoolander (2001)
When we imagine Will Ferrell, this is one of his first characters to come to mind. But he actually appeared on stage, like many of his colleagues, when he was chosen to be part of Saturday Night Live back in 1995. His first big-screen work was as Mustafa, one of Dr. Evil’s henchmen in Austin Powers’ first film (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, 1997). Although by then he was already in a couple of years of career in minor roles on TV, he did very well and reprised the role in the 1999 sequel. He then starred in two of those films out of SNL’s ranks: A Night at the Roxbury (1998) and Superstar (1999). But the role that really shot him to international fame was that of Zoolander’s villain (2001), the satire of the fashion world written and starring Ben Stiller, where Will Ferrell played the eccentric Mugatu.
Elf (2003)
Almost as iconic as his unforgettable fashion world tycoon, just two years later Will Ferrell got his own starring role in a family comedy by Jon Favreau (yes, the same one iron man made in 2008), which at the time was just debuting as a director. The film followed the life of Buddy, a middle-aged Christmas elf who discovers he is actually a human. Faced with his identity crisis, he leaves the North Pole where he was raised to travel to cosmopolitan New York City and find out who his real father is. Ferrell was accompanied by a cast of stars who were also just beginning their careers, such as Peter Dinklage and Zooey Deschanel, and some seventh art veterans such as Mary Steenburgen and James Caan. The film was a commercial success and over the years became even more popular.
The Reporter: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Anchorman, 2004)
This was the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration with Adam McKay, the same one who today writes and directs Oscar-winning films such as The Big Short (2015) and The Vice President: Beyond Power (Vice, 2018). At the time, he was a debuting screenwriter who wrote his first feature film alongside Will Ferrell himself, who starred in this delusional comedy with Steve Carrell (another regular collaborator), Paul Rudd and Christina Applegate. In the competitive world of news in the 1950s, a group of presenters saw the status quo threatened when an ambitious female colleague comes to change the game. In 2013 he had a successful sequel and Ron Burgundy became a recurring character in several variety shows.
Stranger than Fiction (Strange than Fiction, 2006)
Perhaps the most dramatic and introspective work in Will Ferrell’s career, which proved to have the rank of to play characters on a more ”serious” record like that of this bittersweet comedy-drama with touches of fantasy. As its title suggests, it is a game of constant metafiction, where he plays the protagonist Harold Crick, an ordinary worker who one day begins to hear a voice that narrates everything that happens in his life, from his romances to his own death, but only he can hear it. Together with Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman, this film toured the festival circuit and spent half a low on the radar after its commercial release, but deserves more recognition for its original premise and the work of the entire cast, led by Ferrell.
Spare Cops (The other guys, 2010)
Like any former SNL member who cares about it, Will Ferrell knows how to work as a team and has a habit of repeating teammates when there is chemistry and good vibes between them. This was the case with several of the above mentioned, such as writer-director Adam McKay, with whom he reunited to star in Ricky Bobby – Crazy for Speed (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 2006), Step Brothers (Step Brothers, 2008) alongside John C. Reilly and Spare Police (2010), alongside Mark Wahlberg. In this police comedy he set out to the pair of action hero to play a New York official who must learn to work with his partner if he wants to become one of the best in town, but of course things don’t go according to plan. He got along so well with Mark Wahlberg that they re-starred together in the family comedy Dad’s War (Daddy’s Home, 2015) and its sequel in 2017.
In this note:
Will Ferrell
Zoolander
Eurovision
