Bad Will Ferrell films: The House
For the most part, I am a pretty big fan of Will Ferell and even think that he could be a pretty great serious actor if he wanted to. The closest attempt at that which I have seen is a movie called Stranger than Fiction which I found Ferell's character, who had almost no comedic moments, to be pretty great and he kinda nailed the role.
There is a reason why the man doesn't really focus on non-comedic roles though and that is because they don't make money. This is true with a number of other comedy stars most notibly Adam Sandler, whose best work has been in non-comedy roles and all of those films have either lost money, or made so little that it is easy to understand why he doesn't often pursue such roles.
Will's comedies make tons of money for the most part and this is why he commands such a massive price tag to be involved in them. If you want Will to be in your movie you better be prepared to shell out 10-20 million dollars or you can go ahead and forget about it. In one particular movie, Will was paid an estimated $15 million for his role and the movie flat out sucked IMO.
src
This is a film about a couple that wants to sent their money to a very expensive private college but then realizes that they don't have anywhere near the amount of money necesssary to do so. They figure out by accident one day that they can make a ton of money by running a casino inside of their own home.
Does it sound stupid and impractical yet? Well it would be because there is no way that something like this would be able to be kept secret and I'm not saying that I need my films to be plausible for me to enjoy them (fantasy and sci-fi are 2 of my favorite styles of films) but absurdity isn't something I generally go for.
src
They end up needing to strong-arm people that don't pay them on time and I guess there are a few laughs in there but for the most part this movie is just stupid and not in "Anchorman was also stupid" type way either.
Should I watch it?
In case it hasn't been evident from what I have alrady written above this film is not good. The best moments and the only ones that are likely to make you laugh are already in the trailer above. This movie is a waste of time and is also one of the lowest rated movies that Will has done ever. It is also one of the few that lost a bunch of money.
It is currently available on Netflix in most regions but seriously.... don't waste your time.
I had high hopes for this one because of the presence of Amy Poehler and Jason Mantzoukas but aside from a few really stupid moments this film was just the usual Will stuff and was nothing special. I know that I probably spent just as much time looking at my phone as I did the tv while it was playing.
I think I know one of the scenes you are talking about.... the police are trying to get inside the safes and Jason's character can't contain himself as he quickly gives away both the location and password to the authorities.
When I look at my phone instead of a film, I know that it is probably time to just turn it off.
I would say that most of Will's movies are pretty bad, especially the ones that were based on Saturday Night Live skits.
oh for sure. They take a 40 second skit and try to make a 90 minute film around it... why wouldn't that work?
Have you seen the movie Downhill? I saw it on HBO once, and it was just strange... at times I laughed a lot, just because it was so stupid... but in general I would call it a drama almost about nothing!
I'm gonna download that now. Never even knew it existed.
Haha, you are a cool fan... you find many of his work is lame, but you still watch all of them. That is what I call a dedicated fan! :)
Every now and then he has moments of brilliance and Anchorman and Step Brothers are two of my favorite silly comedies of all time. I keep hoping that he will do something great again, but I don't think he is versatile enough of an actor to really do anything particularly special.
The problem is that Will Ferrells' face is stuck in my brain as one playing in "foolish" comedies. It is almost like Jim Carrey back in the days. Of course, they are both capable of playing different roles and they are great actors, but still, it is hard to forget all about their past roles!
I think that Jim is far more versatile than Ferrell. I think that Will is a one-trick-pony and the appeal is wearing off. Carrey on the other hand has proven that he is capable of rather intense drama and emotion on screen in the likes of The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, and the spotless mind one. Ferrell just has Stranger than Fiction and that was decent but not exactly an emotional roller coaster
Very good