According to science, these are Will Ferrell’s best movies.
Written by Doug Norrie
What are Will Ferrell’s best movies? It feels like Will Ferrell has been around forever, and in many ways seems to have continued to play the same character ever since he burst onto the scene in the early 2000s. It seems to me. That was fine with me because it’s basically funny to watch a guy read a phone book.
Fans spend a lot of time debating which Will Ferrell movie is the best, but we used math to create a definitive ranking. To be on this list, a Will Ferrell film must receive a critical consensus of 50% or higher, and Ferrell must play a role equal to or close to that of a lead role in the film, and does not include voiceover work. No.
I did the math and these are Will Ferrell’s best movies.
1. elf | 2003
Will Ferrell’s most acclaimed film, and perhaps his most widely loved. elf It has become a staple of the holiday season in my household and many others. The story of Buddy, an “elf” who goes missing in New York, has interesting consequences. Elf is a really great movie, full of hilarious moments and a touching story.
Frankly, even the Tomatometer is this “low” without negative critics spouting platitudes about the lumps of coal in stock (which I did anyway), Confused. Those who gave it a low rating simply got it wrong.
2. the others | 2010
the others It starts off with a lot of hilarity, featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel Jackson as no-holds-barred @#$ cops who take down bad guys, blow up shit, and just fall for girls. They died just before the opening credits finished rolling.
Ferrell plays a bean-counting, rule-abiding cop and his hot-tempered partner, played by Mark Wahlberg. the others There are a lot of great one-liners, a great dynamic between the two leads, a reference to Michael Keaton’s TLC, and tons of laughs. It could have easily been a boring, stupid mess, but they pulled it off. Featuring Eva Mendes as Will Ferrell’s wife, you’ll never tire of the running gag in this movie.
3. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues | 2013
A rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor in the eyes of critics. anchorman 2 Reassemble the gang and travel once again through the wonderful world of News. Sequels to this Will Ferrell film have never strayed too far from the formula that worked the first time around, and in this case, critics knew early on what they were getting into. I think so.
The team is as ridiculous as ever, the jokes are over the top, and the world of 24-hour news is full of more debauchery than ever before.
4. everything has to go | 2010
I think it’s on a technical level, everything has to go “” is a comedy, but it’s actually a story about loss and redemption. From a character standpoint, Ferrell doesn’t stray too far from what he’s done in the past, but there’s enough sourness to this production to go with the sweetness.
He plays a struggling alcoholic salesman whose wife leaves him and literally throws everything out on the front lawn. Ferrell then lives on that lawn among the things he once cherished, drinks himself into oblivion, and befriends a neighborhood boy who is going through his own terrible experiences. This is a moving story and one of the best dramatic developments in a Will Ferrell movie.
5. stranger than fiction | 2006
Billed as a comedy, this Will Ferrell movie is actually a super meta story about a guy living the life of the character the writer is writing the story for. However, they both live in the same reality. get it? It plays out smoothly enough on screen, but creating this kind of interweaving and overlapping story without running into too many time-space problems was almost an accomplishment on its own.
As the lovable loser, Ferrell is at his best when he’s “navigating” a world that’s unfolding on paper in front of someone else. Do you understand 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 in the actual history of auto racing, or did it set NASCAR back a decade? It’s kind of hard to tell.
Ferrell and vice presidential candidate John C. Reilly let it all out in a film that’s both hilarious and derailing. In many ways, this is emblematic of the almost farcical nature of Ferrell’s career. It’s full of shameless advertising, a barely-there offensive take on race car culture, people taking part, and very, very stupid jokes. still works. The scene where Ricky Bobby says “Grace” is worth the price of admission alone.
7. blade of glory | 2007
You’ll notice that Will Ferrell’s movies are concept-heavyin this case sports, making movies about subcultures. Hey, we’re not even gonna get there semi-professional (twenty two%), But these kinds of movies are something of a hallmark of Ferrell’s career.
in blade of gloryIn , he plays Chaz Michael Michaels, who hangs up his skates and desperately wants to get back into figure skating after being sentenced to a lifetime ban. There, he teams up with Jon Heder, who has just joined the company. napoleon dynamiteand they put on a skating display that was very much in line with what two guys who look like this do on the ice.
8. campaign | 2012
Ferrell has a wealth of political satireplayed a heel version of George W. Bush throughout the 2000s. saturday night live And in his own solo play, You’re welcome, America. As far as satirical presidential elections go, this one might be the most iconic.
Here, he and Zach Galifianakis play rival candidates, and Ferrell is basically just impersonating “W” as a U.S. congressman under a different name. In a series of increasingly escalating election stunts, the two face off, this time over the electoral process and core political system, exactly as Ferrell mocks it.
If Will Ferrell’s films feel a little too close to home in their depiction of these institutions, it’s because he has a flair for the absurd and the sublime. campaign may be the best example of that strategy.
9. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy | 2004
in Anchorman, Will Ferrell It takes us into a glass case of his feelings about this cult favorite and box office favorite, depicting the halcyon days of the San Diego nightly news. After all, Ron Burgundy may rank as Ferrell’s most memorable character. This is really saying a lot considering the list above.
He gives a great performance as the feminine, mahogany-loving, jazz-playing leader of the evening news team. anchorman It’s so over the top (Brick killed someone!) that it almost loses its sense of reality. In a good way.
10. step brothers | 2008
Ferrell and John C. Reilly have teamed up on three widely released films, but it certainly feels like there’s more to it than that. Perhaps it’s because every time they do it, it’s such a masterpiece of stupidity that it seems like we’ve watched it for thousands of hours.
Here they are as “close” as the boys of the middle-aged men who have become stepbrothers. Although housed in the bodies of fully grown adults, they are every bit the petulant child you’d expect.
Will Ferrell Honorable Mention
I didn’t add these three Will Ferrell movies to my main list because he technically didn’t star in any of them, but he definitely steals every scene in all three. Masu. Whether it’s Frank the Tank’s Streaker, Mugatu plotting to take over the fashion world, or Chaz Reinhold screaming for his mother to make him meatloaf, Ferrell is great at all three. It seems that he has established himself as a star.
old school
zoolander
wedding crashers
