I just don't get what people find funny about this guy. He plays on exactly the same kind of humour without much difference character in every movie. He's just not that funny.
What's the deal? What am I missing?
Posted by Chungwa (Member # 6421) on :
Without answering your question, I think he can be pretty funny now and then. Certainly not "one of the bests." But he is relatively decent.
There's a lot of funnier people who aren't nearly as popular as him, though.
Posted by RynoW1 (Member # 8365) on :
He may only play one character ...but I think that one character is funny.
Its like Green Day. They have only really written one song, but that one song is REALLY good. :-)
Maybe to get Will Ferrell you maybe needed to see him in his SNL days... Bruce Dickinson wants more Cow Bell!
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Nah, I'm old enough to remember when Saturday Night Live used to be funny. Gosh, it was a riot -- and like nothing else on TV.
Now? Eh.
Will Ferrell is not a comedic great. He is a comedic mediocrity. But so are so many others.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
He really isn't funny at all... And also, I have never liked SNaiL. It's so dippy and irratating, the low brow humour.
Posted by Chungwa (Member # 6421) on :
I think Saturday Night Live started getting less funny after Belushi left.
It's not terrible now, but it's not like it was then.
Edit: Now the Kids in the Hall, that was a good show.
Posted by RynoW1 (Member # 8365) on :
Maybe its a generational thing. Give me Will Ferrell over Belushi any day. I always hear about the glory days of SNL (including from my mom)...but I think the days of Phil Hartman to Jimmy Fallon were just as funny.
You have to hand it to SNL though...they manage to stay on the edge of hip for many many years.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Kids in the Hall=Hilarious.
Will Ferrell=Unfunny. I hate Will Ferrel. SNL started to suck after he came on the show, and don't even get me talking about Molly Shannon. Boy is she not funny. Also, Jimmy Fallon sucks at telling jokes. He can sometimes be funny, but only when I'm laughing at how much he sucks.
Posted by Chungwa (Member # 6421) on :
Sadly (or maybe I'm lucky?) I don't know who Molly Shannon or Jimmy Fallon is.
Though I think Phil Hartman is great.. Er, was great (I liked him on News Radio, too).
Posted by Jeni (Member # 1454) on :
I recently saw Anchorman for the first time and nearly busted a gut. Sure, a lot of the humor is pretty crude, but when you just accept it for what it is it's also darn funny.
Posted by Chungwa (Member # 6421) on :
I haven't seen Anchorman, so I wont address that specifically.
But, I've noticed the comment "accept it for what it is and you'll enjoy it" comes up a lot. I've said it a few times myself, in fact.
I like some crude humour. I think Mel Brooks (some of his humour is as crude as it gets) is great, but I can't stand watching "Trailer Park Boys" for more than thirty seconds.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I typically hate Will Ferrell (that man should never do a joke involving him being nude again) but I really kind of liked Elf. And Bewitched was pretty OK, but that was because of Nora Ephron and Kristen Chenoweth. Will Farrell and Nicole Kidman merely managed not to ruin it.
Except for the joke involving him being nude.
Posted by Chungwa (Member # 6421) on :
I enjoyed Elf, too. Though the reasons I enjoyed it really had nothing to do with Will Ferrell.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
quote:He plays on exactly the same kind of humour without much difference character in every movie. He's just not that funny.
You know, this is exactly how I feel about Steve Martin. Everyone else in the world thinks he is hilarious. He does nothing for me.
I happen to find Will Ferrell a hoot. So I tend to enjoy his Funny. (Admittedly, I haven't seen him in all that much.)
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I think he's pretty funny. I DO agree about the Steve Martin thing, but I also thing he's pretty funny too. Sgt. Bilko is one of my favorite movies.
I loved a LARGE amount of his impressions on SNL. The Celebrity Jeopardy's are fantastic, his Janet Reno dance party was funny, his Bush during the first election and subsequent years as President were all hilarious. And when he played the cheerleader with Cheri Oteri.
When Darrel Hammond leaves SNL I'll stop watching.
Posted by Daric (Member # 8402) on :
Oh god, Celebrity Jeopardy was insane. I couldn't stop laughing and I now have all of the sketches on my computer.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
SNL is definitely generational.
Fortunately, around the same time I was watching SNL myself (Junior high?) a local UHF station was running the first few years every night.
So I grew up loving the original cast as well as the Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade, Adam Sandler cast.
The ones between them--Joe Piscopo, Eddie Murphy--don't do much for me, and nor do the later ones. Was it OSC who said that Will Ferrell seems like a guy who's always trying to copy someone he once saw do something funny? I think that description is pretty accurate. Can't abide Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrel, or Rob Schnieder.
I think that officially qualifies me for fogeyhood.
"Back in my day, SNL had a real cast . . ."
(Of course, now that I think about it, I think I used to complain about the quality of SNL even back when I watched it. But back then, I think I usually blamed the writing, rather than the cast. They'd come up with skits that were funny, if you thought about the premise, but weren't actually funny in the execution.)
(And if I can make a parathetical aside that is sure to derail the thread, the best SNL episode ever was when Tom Hanks hosted for the fifth time. Nearly every single skit was gold.)
Posted by FoolishTook (Member # 5358) on :
quote:So I grew up loving the original cast as well as the Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade, Adam Sandler cast.
Ah, yes, those were glorious times.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I like Jimmy Fallon, he was funny. Not so much Rob Schneider.
Al Gore was one of my favorite hosts. That episode was hilarious.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:So I grew up loving the original cast as well as the Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade, Adam Sandler cast.
You've captured the best two eras of the show right there.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yeah, they were sota the second comming of SNL.
I don't know if it will manage a thrid, although I doubt it.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I've been known to say that Will Ferrell is the comedy-viewing equivalent of having a horrible skin disease. Something about watching him just makes me want to take a long shower. With a scouring pad.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Chris Farley is not funny. He sucked the funny from the universe he was so not funny. He was like the black hole of humour from which no funny ever returned. Posted by Tresopax (Member # 1063) on :
Will Ferrell is hilarious. Chris Farley is even more hilarious, in the same way. Both do only play just one character, though. Truthfully, it's the very rare comedian who can be funny in lots of very different roles. ::Bows down to Christopher Walken::
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
See, I have little regard for any actor, humorous or otherwise, who only does the same character over and over again. Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, Pauly Shore, Jack Nicholson, Leslie Nielsen. I find 'em all annoying.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I always thought Christopher Walken's comedy was pretty much the same every time too. Doesn't mean I don't love it, I do, but still, all pretty much the same.
Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
I don't really like Will Ferrell's type of humor either. I'm not a big fan of stupid or crude funny, I like witty funny or dark humor a lot better.
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
I don't think Ferrell is any kind of comedic genius, but he does easily convey a sense of innocent, earnest vulnerability that is really appealing in the type of role he chooses to play.
Elf was a great movie and I could not imagine anyone else pulling off that role any better than Ferrell. Sandler maybe, but he has a mean streak in him that is not suitable for children films. Tom Hanks can also do a great job, I suppose, but he has moved beyond that stage of his career.
While I enjoy watching actors reaching out beyond their stereotypical roles, I also don't mind watching them do what they do best: Meg Ryan in romantic comedies, Jackie Chan in action flicks, and Morgan Freeman as the gravitas in any movie he is in.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
quote:You know, this is exactly how I feel about Steve Martin. Everyone else in the world thinks he is hilarious. He does nothing for me.
I totally don't feel this way about Steve Martin. I think he has range. It just wasn't explored in the beginning of his career. I didn't really care for him in his "Wild & Crazy Guy" days, but I loved him in All of Me, which was a completely different character from the one he played in LA Story which I also enjoyed. I thought he was good in Roxanne and brought needed humanity to that character despite the worn plot and ridiculous makeup. And I love it when he does a serious role. He was really good in The Spanish Prisoner. YMMV, of course.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I nurse a secret crush on Steve Martin, and I think Roxanne is mostly responsible. The other movie that is responsible is Parenthood, oddly enough.
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
Will Ferrell is the type of comedian who would stoop to any depths to get a laugh. The problem is that once he had dipped low enough, he couldn't get himself out of the trough.
Put simply, he's lame. And after he urinated on himself onstage at the MTV movie awards, I don't think I'll ever give him much of a chance to make me laugh.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
quote:Originally posted by Verily the Younger: See, I have little regard for any actor, humorous or otherwise, who only does the same character over and over again. Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, Pauly Shore, Jack Nicholson, Leslie Nielsen. I find 'em all annoying.
Here Here!
quote: Put simply, he's lame. And after he urinated on himself onstage at the MTV movie awards, I don't think I'll ever give him much of a chance to make me laugh.
Ew.... Posted by Kent (Member # 7850) on :
Will is funny, I go see his movies. It is also funny that some of you hate his work. I laugh at you too.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Elf was funny. I have yet to see a Will Ferrell movie that I can say I enjoyed seeing him in. Most of the time he is excruciating.
Oh, another good Steve Martin role was his character in Grand Canyon. Very underrated movie. Full of good acting.
Posted by Salah (Member # 7294) on :
I can't help but dislike him because I know where he stands politically-- actors would be doing themselves a favor to keep their political beliefs to themselves because there are people with opposing views (such as myself) who refuse to see his movies and contribute $buck$ to a person who is against what they believe.
I had the unfortunate experience of seeing Elf at a friends house- come on Hollywood!...why must you assume audiences are so brain dead and willing to be tortured in such a way?! (Yet film courses teach people that audiences are actually quite intelligent, so why can't they be treated that way?)
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
Grand Canyon is my favorite movie of all time.
Steve Martin is also a wonderful writer. Of course, I may be a bit biased because he has such a soft spot for my hometown.
Speaking of Elf, Zooey Deschanel is a wonderful actress. She just needs the right movie to really show off her stuff.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I grew up loving SNL when Jim Belushi, Eddie Murphy, and Billy Crystal were on it. I have found it painful to watch for at least the last fifteen years.
I have often said I feel out of touch with what passes for comedy these days. Like everyone, I believe I have a sense of humor, and can point at funny things I like, but I hate virtually everyone who is alleged to be funny these days. I mostly don't like Steve Martin, though I think he was quite good in All Of Me, and I think he's had other good flashes. I think David Spade can occasionally be a little bit funny, but mostly I want to beat the snot out of him. (I realize that's kind of his schtick, but it irritates me more than it amuses me. It's the level of I'm-smarter-than-everyone sarcasm that makes teenagers such a pain in the neck.) I think Dennis Miller was funny on SNL when I was a kid, but he's way too full of himself to be funny now. And those are the guys I like most: I actively despise Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Jim Carrey (except in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which was brilliant, and featured his only good performance), Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Phil Hartman, and Chris Farley.
I think what it comes down to is these guys have absolutely no subtlety. I guess I like wit more than what they're calling "comedy" these days. None of those guys I hate are good actors, and I like a comic who is (in a movie). Much of the schtick for all of these guys is slapstick, and I generally don't find slapstick funny. And much of the humor on SNL is based on being hurtful. Some people have come to believe--I have heard people assert that this is true--that humor is funny because it's painful. We laugh at the pain of others. I don't agree that this is true. I think humor works because of the shock of the unexpected. This can be the unexpected pain, as in slapstick, or comedy where people demean each other verbally, but things can be unexpected for other reasons. I think the writers of most SNL-based comedies (and since most of the stars I hate are SNL alumni, or In Living Color, I think I can blame SNL for everything I hate about comedy today) believe the story about humor needing to be painful, but since that's all they know they have taken it to a degrading extreme.
So anyway, that's how I feel. You can all pile up on me now.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
For some reason I disliked Grand Canyon emmencely... Perhaps it was the suburban white people whose only contact with blacks was at a service level. It's been a long time since I have seen it though. And where does he stand politically?
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
Grand Canyon does depict a society where black and white people generally moved in different circles. But the movie condemns this, and advocates that such artificial barriers can and should be crossed. It is a movie about good people trying to see beyond the narrow confines of their prejudiced perspectives.
I guess really have a soft spot for Steve Martin, magic realism, and stories based in Los Angeles. L.A. Story is my second favorite movie of all time. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: I can't help but dislike him because I know where he stands politically-- actors would be doing themselves a favor to keep their political beliefs to themselves because there are people with opposing views (such as myself) who refuse to see his movies and contribute $buck$ to a person who is against what they believe.
So, in other words, it's actually quite brave, noble, and altruistic for actors to voice their political opinions in public?
Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :
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