Flickgrrl

I totally agree. He's becoming a one trick pony. I grimace every time I see the ads for this movie appear (or even worse, his ad for Old Spice). You are dead on - Woody does it better, and is much more earnest about it. Will, next time, just say no!

He was great as Bob Woodward in "Dick." He really anticipated the ---hole we saw with the Bush connection and the Iraq war. His other stuff, labored and not very funny. Would like to see Katherine O'Hara as Judith Miller and Dustin Hoffman as her friend Irving. That's another movie, though. LOL.

Will is similar to Chevy Chase. Chevy made some funny flicks throughout his career but began to take himself too seriously. He actually thought he was an actor. That was when people realized he over stayed his welcome. Will has a better grip on unreality.

yea i was never a big fan of his work. its the same thing over and over again. garbage.

on defense of Will, Anchorman was one of the funniest movies ever. Yes, Semi-Pro is Ricky Bobby on the b-ball court, but he may as well keep going before he does end up like Chevy Chase. I laughed out loud when I saw the poster for the new movie Step Brothers...

In retrospect, do we complain that Bob Hope movies essentially are sketch comedies? No, we love them because they make us laugh, like Ferrell movies. Lighten up.

The shelf life for top-tier comics is limited. Ask Jim Carrey. Hard to argue with Ferrell going to the sports well again and again, but "Semi-Pro" isn't smart enough to take full advantage of his man-child shtick.

Amazing that Adam Sandler, easily the least gifted of the modern movie comics, has had the longest run.

I usually can't help laughing at his schtick, although I popped Anchorman out of the DVD player midway through. It was a little too stupid and over the top for me - or maybe I too closely value my own memories of the classic '70s-era Action News team.

Here's my question about Semi-Pro for anyone who's seen it: How does it earn its R rating? I don't care if you "spoil" the "plot":) Ferrell's schtick is highly appealing for my not-quite-11-year-old boy. I can handle him hearing a little cursing, even a single "F bomb," but I'd prefer it not get him too far ahead of his schoolyard learning curve with compound curse words, sexual positions, and the like. I'd also prefer that he not get bombarded with the sort of overtly sexist (if tongue in cheek) humor that helped me tire of Anchorman. It's a tough line to balance, being a generally liberal parent who wants to do the right thing raising of a boy this age while also being artsy-fartsy enough to not be able to wait to have him watch The Shining and Raging Bull with me.

Is there a website that details what earns a movie a particular rating?It's helpful to know there's "sex" or "violence," but I'd love to have some context, no matter how subjective it might be to report. I've yet to find such a site. Thanks.

Great questions. Nell Minow, Movie Mom over at yahoo.com, is an excellent authority on kid-appropriateness in film.

Semi-Pro has: sex, voyeurism, pothead humor, flagrant foul use of a 10-letter expletive (a compound curse word) and coarse visual puns involving male anatomy. The humor is middle-school locker room. I wouldn't want my 11-year-old daughter to see it (with one exception, the women are blonde bimbos). But boys are different.

Will is what he is...
In an age when there is so much wrong with the world, Will gives us a chance to get some guaranteed and stress free laughs... Sometimes its just good to get a few hours of mindless escapism... regardless of the genre or its cinematic quality. As long as you know what you are getting into before you go to see his films (as I sure everyone did before going to see Semi-pro) then don't expect Oscar performances and just have fun.

Whoa! Low blow, Carrie! Loaded question. True, Ferrell has had his share of hits and misses, but who hasn't in Hollywood? You could make the same exact argument against (fill in the blank) - anyone . Anyone who has ever made a movie. Think of the drek that DeNiro has made ("Showtime," "Hide and Seek," "Flawless"), or the unmentionables that even Robert Altman has unleashed on us ("O.C. And Stiggs," "Quintet," "The Company"). Creative people always have highs and lows in the course of a career, as I'm sure you'll agree, and they are often surrounded by people (studio heads, managers, sycophants) who encourage them to stick to a proven formula. Altman did "Nashville," Health," "A Wedding," "Port à prêter" and 'A "Prairie Home Companion" all from the same basic formula - some good, some not so good. Few names in Hollywood have had on-going career highs like Meryl Streep. Most movie people die and then return from death (Travolta, Shirley MacLaine).

Finally, I wouldn't be too quick to lump "Talladega Nights" in with Ferrell's other sports-driven movies. I hesitate to invoke the name of another fine critic, but there's a reason why Manohla Dargis cited "Talledega" as having one of the five best screenplays of 2006 in an Oscar piece she wrote last year for The New York Times. It's a great script. You should try watching it again. and listen to its subversive, politically-tinged dialogue and watch Ferrell's performance - a wicked deconstruction of George W. Bush. The blasphemous dinner scene alone, in which the name of "Baby Jesus" is invoked with progressively aggressive glee, qualifies "Talledega" as a minor masterpiece.

Love your work. Keep it up!

Thanks, Richard. I like "Talladaga Nights," which I lauded in my review of "Semi-Pro," if not the blog post. Like Anon up there, who cited Bob Hope, you are right to take the long view on a comic career. But I thiink we can all agree that "Semi-Pro" is not "Talladega Nights." And I think for Ferrell to make a film as weak as "Semi-Pro" amounts to a dilution of the brand.

Thanks, Carrie. That was helpful. Considering that the film is not earning critical acclaim, I'll probably save my next questionable Dad call for something with a better aesthetic/comedic payoff. By the time the video's out he'll be in middle school.

Carrie, the precise simplicity of your blog never ceases to amaze me: You ask a simply question and engender a lively discussion.

Just wanted to echo Richard's sentiments about the highs and lows of stardom. It must be daunting to keep up the momentum once it starts. That's why Jack Nicholson, in spite of his tendency towards self-parody, provides something of a template for a long, steady career.

Re, "Talladega Nights," I also think of it as a shrewd political allegory - for those who catch on to that element. (Having Ricky Bobby challenged, intimidated and defeated by a Frenchman was a stroke of brilliance.) For those who don't ge it, it works, of course, on an altogether different level as breezy escapist entertainment.

About Ferrell, if you step back and look the filmmography that he's compiled in a relatively short amount of time, it's impressive, more than just a collection of sports spoofs, "Anchorman" and "Old School." One poster already mentioned "Dick." And you brought up "Elf" and 'Stranger Than Fiction."

I'd add to that "Melinda and Melinda" which he did for Woody Allen, the Zooey Deschanel-Ed Harris film, "Winter Passing" and the insane bit in "Zoolander"

I loved his cameo in "The Wedding Crashers" and his singing Nazi was the only redeeming element in the stale film version of "The Producers." Get this guy a full-blown musical! If anyone could get an audience to sit still for a film musical, it's Ferrell. (Wouldn't he be a hoot as Conrad Birdie - or even Albert Peterson - in a re-do of "Bye, Bye Birdie"?)

Oh, Joe, the mental picture of Will Ferrell as Conrad Birdie in "Bye, Bye, Birdie" singing "You Gotta Be Sincere" cracks me up. Yes! I'd pay to see that.

Carrie--

Re my comment above about "Talladega Nights": "Having Ricky Bobby challenged, intimidated and defeated by a Frenchman was a stroke of brilliance."

Make that: "Having Ricky Bobby challenged, intimidated and defeated by a gay Frenchman was a stroke of brilliance" (Ricky Bobby, of course, being a stand-in for George W.).

--J

Is it possible that Will Ferrell is only as good as his director? I don't see him working with a lot of top-line talent, and his best work has been with Marc Forster (Stranger than Fiction) and Judd Apatow (Anchorman). And the other films Carrie mentioned above were also from upper-tier directors (Jon Favreau, Elf; Todd Phillips, Old School).

He might be so good an actor that he simply takes direction well... and also takes bad direction well.

David,

That's an elegant, auteurist argument that has both the ring of reasonability and truth. I would also argue that the screenplays for those films were well structured and didn't rely on improvisation, which better directors would have demanded before signing on.

Thanks

I have not found him funny for several years now, in fact I'm not sure I have ever found him entertaining.

To David: The overrated Judd Apatow did not direct "Anchorman." It was directed by the underrrated Adam McKay. I realize that Apatow is the new Savior of Hollywood comedy but, please, let's not credit him for everything.

Blah Blah Blah. Wake up people the guy is a genius. People said the same thing about Andy Kaufman.

They love Jerry Lewis in France. Does that make him funny?

No. The French aren't funny. Neither are the Germans. Perhaps that's why they often fight, although it doesn't explain why the French always lose.

PS Jerry Lewis on his best day is about as funny as an untreated yeast infection. Send him to the French - they'll take anyone and say he's funny.

You made me leave out a sentance because you enraged me so much. Now that I have calmed let me explain. Why did you bother to review the rambo film? You obviously have no interest in the rambo series (and or sly stallone for that matter). Some people do like action movies, and I tell you everyone who goes to see this film knows what they are in for. Those who dislike action or violence wont see it. You seem to have some kind of seeded disrespect for gamers, you say rambo is "First person shooter perspective" and "for the playstation crowd" You seem to think that all gamers are mindless action junkies, well my love nothing is farther from the truth. try not to insult a large group of people with your next review eh?

bilbo, need ur meds checked much?

What's that saying? Oh, yes, empty cans make the loudest noises. There's another: If the shoe fits...

read name above much?

Hey, maybe Ferrell can redeem his comic touch by playing Eliot Spitzer in "Walk The Line II"!

WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that Will Ferrell is a comedy prodigy. He has made us all laugh, so lighten up. They are just movies. But amazing ones!!! Anchorman, best movie ever made.

I think that Will Ferrell is a comedy prodigy. He has made us all laugh, so lighten up. They are just movies. But amazing ones!!! Anchorman, best movie ever made.

I think that Will Ferrell is a comedy prodigy. He has made us all laugh, so lighten up. They are just movies. But amazing ones!!! Anchorman, best movie ever made.