The best Smart DNS for watching movies abroad.
I have a confession to make: for a really long time, I found Will Ferrell to be pretty cringey. The movies that many consider to be the funniest in his filmography just were not my thing. Granted, I understand that being a young girl wasn’t exactly the demographic for his big movies of the 2000s, and he’s been doing just fine without me as his biggest fan, I figure it’s all good that he wasn’t my cup of tea. That’s right, I haven’t seen movies like Step Brothers and Talladega Nights all the way through. Of course I watched Elf, but it didn’t really make a massive impression on me. Cut to this past week. I watched two Will Ferrell movies in a row, and think I totally get it now.
As someone who lives in the dark world we all take part in, I can only watch so much Yellowjackets and The White Lotus before I miss a good, wholesome comedy. So I was pleased to see Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon teaming up together for You’re Cordially Invited. The concept feels like a movie lost in the early 2000s, and after I watched it, it inspired me to check into another one of the Ferrell’s films that is truly lost in that decade.
I Watched You’re Cordially Invited, And Found Will Ferrell’s Performance Delightful And Hilarious
While I put off watching You’re Cordially Invited, after seeing these two have a time of their life on their press tour (which included TikTok dancing, of course), I gave it try. I’ll admit there’ve been a few made-for-streaming comedies starring big names that I really didn’t like, but I had a blast with this one. It’s by no means reinventing the wheel, but the concept of a wedding getting double booked was funny, and I enjoyed how Ferrell and Witherspoon used their talents to be the family members of the brides at odds.
I got a kick out of the complex, but cute relationship between Ferrell’s character and his daughter – played by Geraldine Viswanathan. Witherspoon was also funny whenever she interacted with her very Southern family, and beneath the humor was a sweet story about how she’s lost touch with her family over the years after pursuing her career in Los Angeles. Then when it came to those two together, it was an unexpectedly amazing combo. Like, I never would have thought about merging them together (especially with the movie’s alligator), but it was so fun to see their humor collide. Oh, and the supporting cast was so funny, too!
For Some Reason, It Inspired Me To Rewatch Stranger Than Fiction For The First Time In Years
That brings me to the movie I decided to watch right after You’re Cordially Invited. While I was doing some streaming doom scrolling in the evening with my partner, I saw the title Stranger Than Fiction and got excited about the idea of rewatching the dark comedy for the first time in years. Growing up in Will Ferrell’s blockbuster comedy era, I wasn’t really a fan. But I remember this movie actually being the one that I really liked when it came out, and I watched a few times over. You’re Cordially Invited lit the spark, and I was happy I revisited it all this time later.
The 2006 movie has Will Ferrell playing a rather boring IRS agent named Harold Crick that one day starts hearing the voice of a narrator in his head, who is discussing his life like he’s the main character of a novel. It’s not long before she says that “little does he know,” he’ll soon die. Once Harold learns his potential future, he makes a lot of changes in his life that allow him to really “live” for the first time.
I Was Gasping At The Stranger Than Fiction Cast The Whole Time
Not only is the movie giving Severance circa 2006, I couldn’t believe the cast around Will Ferrell in this movie. I had definitely recalled Emma Thompson playing the narrator, but wow, is she good in this movie! Harold is basically a reflection of her depressed state as an author, and while we never really get a whole backstory on her, she says so much with every scene she’s in. But I had totally forgotten about Queen Latifah playing her assistant. She plays alongside Thompson so well with her matter-of-fact dialogue! I also found out that both Ferrell and Thompson were even nominated for Golden Globes at the time.
Then there’s Dustin Hoffman. That’s right, Dustin Hoffman! The actor plays a literary expert that Harold goes to help him evade his fate the narrator warns him of. I had remembered the movie being funny and clever, but what a cast.
It’s Not A Perfect Movie, But Its Existential Message Still Hit Me
I was thankful for my Amazon Prime Video subscription for leading me to two Will Ferrell movies in the same weekend, but particularly for the affecting message within Stranger Than Fiction. What’s great about the underrated critical darling is it’s not only a good time on the surface level, it also still makes me think about my own existence and if I’m getting caught up in the routine of life – or not being the main character in my own story.
Sure, there’s some cheesy and rather on-the-nose themes about Stranger Than Fiction that didn’t dawn on me in my earlier viewings as a younger person, but I was struck by the allegory it has about regarding the inevitability of death and how it can feel to live inside the unknown of when and where it will happen. I still think Stranger Than Fiction is my favorite thing Will Ferrell has made, because it’s the first time I was able to connect with his personal brand of comedy, and how it can be so effective in such a unique way.
Like truly, I wouldn’t want anyone else to have had his role in Stranger Than Fiction. Now I think I’ll totally dig some of his other work I didn’t give the time of day before.