According to science, these are the best Will Ferrell movies.
By Doug Norrie
What is the best Will Ferrell movie? It feels like Will Ferrell has been around forever, and in many ways, it seems like he’s been playing the same character since he hit the scene in the early 2000s. That’s fine by me because I could basically watch the dude reading the phone book and laugh it off.
Fans spend a lot of time debating which Will Ferrell movie is the best, but we’ve come up with a definitive ranking using math. To make this list, a Will Ferrell film had to score more than 50% in critical consensus, Ferrell had to be in or something close to the starring role in the film, and we had to include no voice-over work. are not doing
We did the math, and these are the best Will Ferrell movies.
1. The elf | 2003
Will Ferrell’s best reviewed film and probably the most loved worldwide. The elf It’s the holiday season in my family and many others. The story of Buddy, a homeless “elf” who goes missing in New York to hilarious results. Elf is simply a great movie with countless laugh out loud moments and a heart touching story.
Frankly, it amazes me that it’s “low” on Tomatometer without spouting clichés about lumps of coal in the stockpile of negative reviewers (I did that anyway). Those who gave it the thumbs up got it wrong.
2. other people | 2010
other people Opens with a hilarious twist, featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel Jackson as don’t-give-a-f@#$ cops who take down the bad guys. Gives and forces girls to just fall. He dies almost before the opening credits roll.
The stages feature Ferrell as Ben the Count, a rule-following cop, and Mark Wahlberg as his hot-headed partner. other people It has tons of great one-liners, a great dynamic between the two leads, Michael Keaton TLC references, and a ton of laughs. It could have easily been a schlocky silly mess, but they pulled it off. I will never tire of the movie’s running gag featuring Eva Mendes as Will Ferrell’s wife.
3. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues | 2013
The rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor in the eyes of critics, Anchorman 2 brings the gang back together for another excursion into the wonderful world of “News”. The sequel to this Will Ferrell movie didn’t deviate much from the formula that worked the first time and, for that matter, I doubt the critics knew what they were getting into initially.
The team is as funny as ever, the jokes are on point and the world of 24-hour news has never been more vulgar.
4. Everything must go. | 2010
I think that on a technical level, Everything must go. is a comedy, but it’s really a story about loss and redemption. Ferrell, from a character standpoint, doesn’t deviate that much from what he’s done in the past but has enough sour to go with the sweet.
He plays a struggling, alcoholic salesman whose wife leaves him and literally throws everything on the front lawn. This results in Ferrell living on the lawn among the things he once loved, drinking his way into oblivion and befriending a neighborhood boy who was going through his shit. It’s a touching story and one of Will Ferrell’s better dramatic turns on film.
5. Stranger to Fiction | 2006
Marketed as a comedy, this Will Ferrell film is actually a super-meta story about a man living the life of a character an author is writing a story about, except that he Both live in the same reality. Get? It’s running smoothly enough on screen, but to create this kind of connected and overlapping story without running into too many space-time hiccups was almost an achievement in itself.
As the lovable loser, Ferrell is very much in his element as he “navigates” a world that’s playing out on paper in front of anyone else. See what I mean? It’s confusing.
6. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | 2006
Did this Will Ferrell movie do more for auto racing than anything else in the original history of the sport, or did it set NASCAR back a decade? It’s hard to tell.
Ferrell and running mate John C. Reilly put it all on display in a flick that goes as far off the rails as it gets laughs. In many ways, it epitomizes the almost absurd nature of Pharrell’s career. It’s full of shameless commercials, borderline offensive interpretations of race car culture, people taking part, and very silly jokes. It still works. The scene with Ricky Bobby that grace is worth the price of admission on its own.
7. Blade of Glory | 2007
You’ll notice that Will Ferrell movies like to take concepts.In this case, making films about sports, and subculture. Heck, we’re not even going here. Semi-Pro (22%) But these kinds of films are somewhat the hallmark of Ferrell’s career.
i Blade of Gloryhe dons skates and plays Chazz Michael Michaels, who is desperate to get back into figure skating after a lifetime ban. So he teams up with Jon Hader, the freshman Napoleon Dynamiteand they put on a skating display very similar to what two guys who look like that would do on the ice.
8. campaign | 2012
Ferrell has a lot of political satire.Until the 2000s, George W. Bush played a heel version. Saturday Night Live And in his one man game, You’re welcome, America. As far as satirical presidential races go, this one might be the most famous..
Here, he and Zach Galifianakis play rival candidates, and Ferrell is basically just a US congressman impersonating “W” under a different name. In an ever-increasing series of campaign stunts, the two face off in just another frivolous satire, this time of the electoral process and the underlying political system.
If Will Ferrell’s films feel so close to home in how they portray these institutions, it’s because he has a knack for the ridiculous and the sublime. campaign An excellent example of this strategy may be
9. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy | 2004
i Anchorman, Will Ferrell This cult and box office favorite takes us through the emotional glass case of the halcyon days of the San Diego nightly news. When it’s all said and done, Ron Burgundy may go down as Ferrell’s most memorable role, which is really saying a lot considering the list above.
He turns in an epic performance as the womanizing, mahogany-loving, jazz-floating leader of the nightly news team. Anchorman So, so, so over the top (Brick killed a man!) that you almost lose all sense of reality. In a good way.
10. step brothers | 2008
Ferrell and John C. Reilly have starred in three widely released films, but this one definitely feels like more. Maybe it’s because every time they do, it’s such a tour-de-force of sheer stupidity that it feels like we’ve seen a thousand hours of it.
Here, they’re as “close” as middle-aged boys who end up as half-brothers. Living in fully grown adult bodies, they are every bit the chubby baby you’d expect them to be.
Will Ferrell will give the honorable mention.
I didn’t include these three Will Ferrell movies in the main list because he technically didn’t have a starring role in any of them, but he definitely steals every scene in all three. Whether it’s Frank the Tank streaking, Mogato plotting to dominate the fashion world, or Chaz Reinhold yelling for his mom to cook him some meatloaf, Ferrell stars in all three. comes
Old school
Zoolander
Wedding Crashers
