Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

Starring Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Melissanthi Mahut, Demi Lovato, and Pierce Brosnan

Directed by David Dobkin

Written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Downhill

 Downhill  (2020)

Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Miranda Otto, Zoë Chao, Zach Woods, and Kristofer Hivju

Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Written by Jesse Armstrong, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Featuring the vocal talents of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Maya Rudolph, and Will Ferrell

Directed by Mike Mitchell

Written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Zoolander No. 2

Zoolander No. 2 (2016)

Starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, Justin Theroux, Nathan Lee Graham, Cyrus Arnold, Billy Zane, Jon Daly, Sting, and Benedict Cumberbatch

Directed by Ben Stiller

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

There are just as many jokes that fall flat as make you laugh out loud in Zoolander No. 2, but in the end the balance works out slightly in the film's favor with the sequel to the cultish 2001 comedy proving to not be nearly as bad as the abysmal reviews would have you believe.  No one's coming to this one hoping for a great cinematic masterpiece -- all one would want is a worthy sequel to the original which I'll admit to not having seen in years, but remember having fond memories about the ludicrousness that it brought to the screen over fifteen years ago.  Fortunately, this delivers on being an amusing piece of mindless entertainment.

And boy is it mindless.  After a prologue which details in ridiculous fashion how our title character's life fell apart following the events of the first film, ex-model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) has become a hermit after losing custody of his son (Cyrus Arnold).  In the midst of the frozen tundra that is "Extreme Northern New Jersey," Derek receives an invite to model for a prestigious new designer in Italy.  With some coaxing, he reluctantly agrees, hoping that it would look good to the child welfare agency.  However, little does Derek know that he's going to find himself in the midst of another fashion-related conspiracy hatched by the evil designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell).

There's no mistaking Zoolander No. 2 as a "good" film, but it's so ridiculously bad that it really does almost land in that "so bad, it's good" category.  It never quite gets to that territory completely, but I laughed enough that Zoolander No. 2 was a worthwhile experience for me.  Sure, it relies much too heavily on an overabundance of dumb cameos from every aspect of pop culture -- Justin Bieber, Kiefer Sutherland, Willie Nelson, Katie Perry, and Anna Wintour pop up just to name a mere few of the boatload that spout a line or two -- but for some unknown reason, I was never upset by any of them.  Instead, I embraced this film's utter corniness and accepted the absurdity.  Apparently this isn't a popular opinion, but maybe I just watched this one at the right time in order for it to work for me.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Get Hard

Get Hard (2015)

Starring Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Tip "T.I." Harris, Alison Brie, and Craig T. Nelson

Directed by Etan Cohen

When millionaire hedge fund manager James King (Will Ferrell) is accused of fraud, arrested, convicted, and sentenced to ten years in a "non-cushy" prison, he finds himself completely at a loss as to how he's going to survive in the slammer.  Hoping to gain some street cred, he turns to Darnell (Kevin Hart), his car washer whom he assumes has been in prison because he's black (this is a comedy, remember...).  Desperate for money to move out of the inner city in order to send his daughter to a better school, Darnell reluctantly agrees to help, although Darnell may not be qualified to show James how to Get Hard.

There are a few laughs in Etan Cohen's Get Hard and when they land, they succeed quite well.  However, there are just too many long stretches of time where either the comedy falls flat or the screenplay keeps hitting the same notes over and over again.  This certainly isn't a politically correct movie and for that I appreciate its insistence on trying to push the line, but the "white guy pretending to "be black"" joke can only be utilized so many times before one's eyes start to roll.  Ferrell and Hart are both fine and their interactions together make up the funniest aspects of the film, but Get Hard is too repetitive to really be successful.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie (2014)

Featuring the voice talents of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

So much hype may have ruined The Lego Movie for me seeing as it was greeted with glowing reviews and much love from the public upon its release in February.  To me, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller -- who brought us the fantastic Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (and the great 21 Jump Street as well) -- are repeating their same old shtick here with less success.  Perhaps their charm has worn thin as I found much of The Lego Movie's jokes to fall flat and the overall plot to be a bit boring and bland.

The Lego Movie follows Emmet Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt), a Lego construction worker who does everything by the book -- he follows directions and instructions to a T.  One evening on the construction site after everyone else has gone home, Emmet falls down a hole and finds, unbeknown to him, the much fabled (in the Lego world in which he lives) "Piece of Resistance" and, after touching it and seeing prophetic visions, Emmet is knocked out.  He awakens captured by Lord Business (Will Ferrell) -- the "mayor" of this aspect of the Lego universe who, Emmet discovers, is out to eliminate free-thinking and imagination.  Emmet is rescued from Business's clutches by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and taken through a portal to a whole slew of Lego lands in an attempt to hide Emmet and the "Piece of Resistance" from Lord Business.  Emmet discovers on this journey that Lego lore states that whomever uncovers the "Piece of Resistance" is the Master Builder and will bring security to all of the Lego worlds which places unimaginative Emmet in a bit of a pickle since he has never been a free thinker...but now the Lego people must put their trust in him in order to defeat Lord Business.

The Lego Movie works best when the film takes on a variety of pop culture references and brings them to the forefront.  Seeing Lego Batman (voiced brilliantly by Will Arnett) and a variety of other well-known entities interact with Emmet is the most successful aspect of the flick.  Unfortunately, when The Lego Movie focuses on Emmet -- as it does most of the first half of the film -- the jokes don't land with as much resonance and get tired and worn quicker than they should.  Admittedly, my second viewing of director Lord and Miller's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs didn't hold up, so maybe I've tired of their weird humor, but I'd like to think this impressive team has more to offer in the future.  Unfortunately, The Lego Movie bored me and that's sometimes the worst criticism one can offer.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Campaign

The Campaign (2012)

Starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, and Brian Cox 

Directed by Jay Roach

For some reason, the previews of this Will Ferrell-ZackhGalifianakis election-based comedy looked surprisingly funny as they appeared over the summer.  While one might think my disappointment could be chalked up to election fatigue, I think the plain and simple fact is that The Campaign is just a dud.  Both Ferrell and Galifianakis don't inject a single iota of credibility or genuineness into their roles, instead creating one-dimensional sketch comedy characters that get incredibly tired after about ten minutes.

Admittedly, for the first ten minutes, I did laugh out loud a few times.  Ferrell is Democratic incumbent senator Cam Brady from North Carolina.  Despite being one of the sleaziest and most incompetent men around, he manages to get elected year after year since no one in his small district dares to run against him.  That all changes, however, when "lovable dimwit" Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) is approached by his father (Brian Cox) to run on the Republican ticket against Cam.  Marty's father and his Republican cronies (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) feel they can manipulate Marty in order to get their ideas brought to the forefront.  As the two idiots compete against each other for the Senate seat, the humor fades incredibly quickly after the characters are introduced.

There's probably a solid comedy to be made about southern political rivals (although oftentimes the real life political soap operas we see every two to four years is ridiculous enough), but The Campaign is nowhere near being a solid comedy.  In fact, it's one of the worst laughers of the year at this point...except for the other Will Ferrell starrer Casa De Mi Padre.  His choices of projects as of late are dismayingly and disturbingly painful to sit through.  Stereotypes don't necessarily equate to chuckles and Ferrell seems to refuse to understand that as of late.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Casa de mi Padre

Casa de mi Padre (2012)

Starring Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Genesis Rodriguez, and Nick Offerman

Directed by Matt Piedmont

Will Ferrell teamed up with some of his buddies from the website Funny or Die to craft Casa de mi Padre, a comedic homage to cheesy Mexican cinema.  If they learned anything from this venture, it should be that the crew at the oftentimes successfully hilarious website (just check out this Regis Philbin-Zooey Deschanel recent creation) should stick with three minute sketches rather than ninety minute movies.

Told nearly completely in Spanish with subtitles, Ferrell is Armando, the less respected son of rancher Miguel Ernesto (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.).  Always unfavorably compared to his more successful brother Raul (Diego Luna), Armando spends his days riding his horse and hanging out with his buddies, trying to avoid the constant stream of negativity he receives from his father.  When Raul returns home with the news that he is going to wed the lovely Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez), Armando becomes even more dejected seeing how much the impending nuptials have pleased his father.  However, Armando soon discovers that Raul is a rising kingpin in the Mexican drug industry and as he uncovers more of his brother's secrets, he begins to fall for Sonia who desperately longs to break away from the dangerous life led by her fiancé.

This melodrama is attempted to be played for laughs, but I'm not sure I chuckled even once during this thing.  It is honestly quite painful to sit through.  I almost expected Casa de mi Padre to be hammier and sillier, but despite the purposeful overacting, painted backdrops, and stuffed mountain lions, I couldn't help but think I should've been being constantly barraged with ridiculousness.  Instead, I'd find more laughs watching five minutes of a bad telenovela on Telemundo.

As a side note: poor Genesis Rodriguez stuck in two absolutely awful movies released in 2012 -- this and Man on a Ledge.  She's beautiful to look at and is one of the better parts of both of these very disappointing movies.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Everything Must Go

Everything Must Go (2011)

Starring Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Christopher C.J. Wallace, Michael Peña, and Laura Dern

Directed by Dan Rush

Essentially getting a direct-to-dvd release after an extremely limited theatrical run, Everything Must Go is Will Ferrell's latest attempt at being more "mature" in his comedic roles.  Just as Jim Carrey peppered his career with a few dramas or dramedies post-superstardom success, Ferrell is doing the same thing with his repertoire every now and then.  Adapted from a short story, Everything Must Go would have worked infinitely better as a short film.  As it stands now, the story of businessman Nick Halsey (Ferrell) who both loses his job and gets kicked out of his house by his wife on the same day meanders on for a bit too long and doesn't really get anywhere.  With no place to go and with all his personal belongings strewn out across his front lawn, Nick simply hunkers down and finds himself living in his yard for five days, reverting back to drinking (after being six months sober) and finding his life essentially unlivable.

While this is nothing like Step Brothers or Anchorman, there is definitely comedy to be had here, but at times Ferrell seems to forget that he's not in one of those aforementioned movies of his and he takes things a step too far in the physical comedy direction via his mannerisms.  That said, overall, Ferrell is certainly a decent dramatic actor.  Even though the film grew tiresome towards its conclusion, Nick's eventual "awakening" and introspective look at the man he has become is absolutely believable and that's due to the actor behind the character.  Credit should also go to director-screenwriter Dan Rush who does create a nice balance between the humor and the pathos.  However, at times, that balance is thrown a bit out of whack by a story that just doesn't really have anywhere to go.  Too much time is spent before Nick reaches his (in Oprah terminology) "A-Ha! Moment" and by the time that happens my interest in the film had waned.

Still, thanks to some solid supporting turns from Rebecca Hall (who is genuinely becoming an actress whom I'm enjoying more and more with each performance I see of hers) as Nick's new next door neighbor and the debut performance of Christopher C.J. Wallace as the young kid Nick befriends while living on his front lawn, Everything Must Go is worth an add to your Netflix Instant Queue if and when it shows up in that format.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Megamind

Megamind (2010)

Featuring the voice talent of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt

Directed by Tom McGrath

Megamind starts out so promisingly as it sets up a longstanding battle between two rivals -- the nefarious though bumbling villain Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell) and the perfect but cocky hero Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt).  Since childhood, the supervillain and superhero have been trying to one up the other with Metro Man always coming out the victor.  This twenty-minute set-up showcasing this rivalry was full of humor, charm and great promise.  However, after the scene has been set, things begin to fall apart.  Megamind proves to be successful at one of his devious plans and things begin to head downhill from there.

It's not that Megamind is a bad film, it's just that it doesn't really go anywhere after its first act.  It tries to humanize its villain, but the character of Megamind is simply much more fun as an inept bad guy than as a reformed good guy.  His attempts to woo tv reporter Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) take up much too much time in the already short film and unfortunately don't advance the story in a positive way.

With the exception of the plot, on all other fronts, Megamind is quite good.  The animation is crisp and appealing to the eye.  The voice talent is all quite good.  I was expecting over-(voice)acting on Will Ferrell's part, but it worked for the character.  Tina Fey was also droll and witty despite the fact that her character's storyline didn't really work for me.

Overall, Megamind is a moderate disappointment if only because the first act showed such promise and evoked laughter which the final two-thirds were sorely lacking.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Other Guys

The Other Guys (2010)

Starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Dwayne Johnson, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Adam McKay

I was a pretty big fan of the previous Will Ferrell-Adam McKay collaborations Step Brothers and Anchorman.  Their latest venture The Other Guys doesn't even come close to those previous flicks.  In fact, this 2010 "comedy" is one of the worst movies of last year.

It's true that comedies are perhaps best viewed with a crowd of others.  As the crowd laughs, you can either laugh with them or laugh at them for finding something humorous.  I watched The Other Guys all by my lonesome and while I chuckled once or twice, that's not nearly enough.  In this bumbling odd couple buddy picture, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg never seem to mesh with one another in the slightest.  In their quest to uncover the mystery behind some Wall Street stock fraud (did that ever sound funny in the writer's room?), their two cop characters grow to realize they're not as different as they thought they once were.

Ferrell is fine here, but he does nothing special and can't garner laughs.  Wahlberg is just horrendous.  His attempts at humor involved yelling everything and opening his eyes really wide to convey frustration and anger -- it just may be one of the worst performances I've seen this year.  The rest of the supporting cast from Eva Mendes to Michael Keaton to Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson as a pair of celebrity-level NYC officers are simply serviceable, but don't add anything to the mix.

All in all, this film wasn't the least bit funny and I contemplated stopping it several times before it was through...I kinda wish I had because I at least would've had an hour to watch something worthwhile.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Land of the Lost (2009)

Starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, and Anna Friel
Written by Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas
Directed by Brad Siberling

I'm keeping this brief because this one was horrendously bad.

The problem with this movie is that it doesn't know who it wants its audience to be. It's not raunchy enough to be aimed at an adult PG-13 crowd, but it is certainly too risqué for anyone under the age of 11 to see it. To me, they were marketing this to kids, and parents will be sorely upset if they take their kids to see this. Sex and drug references abound and, while they fall flat on adult ears, they shouldn't be heard by kids.

The worst "big budget" film of the summer by far at this point. Really, everything is awful here...Will Ferrell...the direction...the story...the set design...I could keep going...

The only thing saving it from an 'F' is that I laughed three or four times, Anna Friel is kinda hot (and she was completely wasted in this role...didn't they see her charm in tv's Pushing Daisies?), and the end credit sequence (with music by Michael Giacchino) is kinda cool. Other than that, a waste of time.

The RyMickey Rating: D-