10 Underrated Will Ferrell Movies, Ranked
There was a point in the mid-2000s when you couldn't go to a movie theater without seeing Will Ferrell headlining a major Hollywood comedy. He's at the heart of so many intensely quotable fan favorites that it's hard to keep track of them all, "Anchorman," "Step Brothers," "Elf," "Zoolander." The list goes on and on. Ferrell played a huge role in defining comedy for a generation, and it was evident that he would make that sort of impact from his breakout work on "Saturday Night Live," where he won over fans with his outrageous caricatures and his long-suffering straight-man roles.
Although Ferrell has been less of a presence in front of the camera in recent years, he's still going strong. Serving as a producer on projects as varied as "Succession," "The Menu," and "Hustlers," he has demonstrated a keen eye for hit projects. His acting profile is impressive as well. This year alone, he's slated to appear in "Strays" and "Barbie," among many others.
Not all of Ferrell's projects have been mainstream hits. Despite Ferrell's box office success, some films flew under the radar, either failing to make an initial impression or just being forgotten over the years. Here are some of Will Ferrell's most underrated films.
Superstar
When Will Ferrell was still a rising star on "Saturday Night Live," he worked on a string of '90s films based on characters from the long-running sketch comedy show. "Superstar" features Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher, an oddball teen at a repressive Catholic high school who longs for fame and can barely keep her hormones under control. Will Ferrell appears alongside her as the dreamy Sky Corrigan, the most popular boy in school and the object of Mary Katherine's desire.
"Superstar" takes place in what can only be described as a heightened reality, and it has an offbeat, almost surreal charm that not all audiences got at the time. Like most of the "Saturday Night Live" spin-off projects, there's an argument to be made that "Superstar" can't quite sustain a full-length feature film, but Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon revel in the weirdness, bringing a bizarre and nearly perverse sense of humor to the proceedings that is fascinating to watch — even if it doesn't always hit the mark.
Kicking & Screaming
Some of Will Ferrell's best roles are mild-mannered everymen who are pushed to the brink until frustration and rage erupt from them like lava. That's what we get in "Kicking & Screaming," a soccer film that sees Ferrell's quiet, reserved Phil take on the responsibilities of coaching his son's youth soccer team. Raised by an ultra-competitive dad (played by Robert Duvall), who just so happens to coach the league's most successful team, Phil has no interest in becoming like the shouty, aggressive man who ruined his childhood. However, the urge to beat his father gets the better of him, and thus, a monster is made.
"Win at any cost" becomes their mantra (or more specifically, "Get the ball to the Italians," since Phil recruits a pair of young Italian boys, a pair of ringers who help the team shoot up the league rankings but also completely demoralize the other players). Things get about as ugly as you can imagine for a sports movie with a PG rating. The narrative is fairly predictable, but that doesn't mean there isn't fun to be had along the way. David Ansen of Newsweek wrote positively of the film, saying, "It's all kept light and funny, but underlying the broad sight gags is a movie that actually has something to say about competition, fathers and sons, machismo and caffeine."
Winter Passing
You'd be forgiven for not remembering "Winter Passing." A small independent dramedy, the 2005 film received a limited release in the United States and didn't get a distribution deal until eight years later after, hitting theaters as "Happy Endings." So it's not exactly Will Ferrell's best-known film.
"Winter Passing" stars Zooey Deschanel as a self-destructive 20-something in a state of extended adolescence. She's offered a large sum of money if she can get her hands on old letters from her father (played by Ed Harris), who is a famous — and famously reclusive — author. When she travels to her childhood home in Michigan, she is surprised to find it occupied by down-on-his-luck musician Corbit (Will Ferrell), who helps the aging writer in exchange for a place to stay.
Although "Winter Passing" was scarcely noticed by audiences, many critics had positive words for the film and especially for Ferrell's performance. Roger Ebert praised "Winter Passing," calling it "the kind of movie routinely dismissed as too slow and quiet by those who don't know it is more exciting to listen than to hear," while Robert Koehler of Variety spoke highly of Ferrell, writing that he "wisely eschews his familiar shtick for a register he hasn't displayed before, playing a guy who's set aside his dreams to take care of another person."
Casa de mi padre
"Casa de mi padre" may be the most unexpected movie in Will Ferrell's filmography. Created in the style of a traditional Mexican telenovela, Ferrell stars as Armando Alvarez, a rancher whose life is thrown into turmoil when his younger brother (Diego Luna) returns and gets the family embroiled in a battle with Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal), one of the most dangerous druglords. Filmed entirely in Spanish, Ferrell, the only non-native Spanish speaker in the cast, reportedly had only a summer to learn enough of the language to passably deliver his dialogue. (Part of the joke is that although his character is played straight, there is no universe in which Ferrell could convincingly pass as a native Spanish speaker.)
Although "Casa de mi padre" occasionally suffers from a common problem faced by comedy films (its concept can't quite sustain an entire full-length feature), it was well-received by audiences. Tara Brady of the Irish Times said of the film, "In this bat-crazy Mexican telenovela, replete with flimsy scenery and fake horses, Ferrell's stilted Spanish delivery chimes perfectly with the stilted, soapy dialogue," showing that even in its goofiness there is a certain charm. Still, its meandering plotline and one-joke narrative make it difficult for "Casa de mi padre" to compete with Ferrell's better-known comedy classics.
A Night At the Roxbury
When Will Ferrell was just another rising star on "Saturday Night Live," he and Chris Kattan struck gold with their nightclub-loving brothers, Steve and Doug Butabi — first in a recurring sketch called the "Roxbury Boys," and then in the feature-length comedy "A Night at the Roxbury." Their characters are the children of wealthy but clueless parents who allow them to luxuriate in an extended adolescence spent almost entirely indulging in Los Angeles nightlife. The two are best known for their hopeless attempts at hitting on various women at the fabled (and fictional) Los Angeles club, The Roxbury — and their distinct head-bobbing dance to "What is Love" by Haddaway.
"A Night at the Roxbury" is by no means a great movie. It's supremely silly and received terrible reviews from critics, but it also captures a distinct moment in the 1990s, and the dance it inspired has now taken on legendary status. Still, within the context of all the films that Will Ferrell has done since, it tends to get lost in the shuffle.
Everything Must Go
File "Everything Must Go" as another of Will Ferrell's entries into the world of dramedy that never got the credit it deserves. In this one, he plays an alcoholic salesman whose life is turned upside down after he loses his job. He returns home to discover that his wife has left him, thoughtfully arranging all of his stuff on the front lawn for him to deal with on his own. And on his journey to sell his possessions, he begins to turn his life around.
Part of a recession-era wave of low-budget independent films with big stars that most audiences never really got a chance to see, "Everything Must Go" was largely admired by critics. In particular, they offered praise for Ferrell's performance, with many citing it as the film that proves the comedic actor is pretty good at the serious stuff, too. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said of his work in the film, "Ferrell proves himself an accomplished and subtle character actor; He gives point and feeling to his character's painful situation."
Dick
This may not be Will Ferrell's most forgotten film, but it's arguably his most forgotten performance. Although "Dick" has earned something of a cult following in recent years, most people are surprised to learn that Ferrell, then far from the movie star he would become, has a small role as Bob Woodward. A retelling of the Watergate scandal, "Dick" puts a pair of D.C. teenagers (played by Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams) at the heart of a cover-up when they accidentally become embroiled in a series of 1970s political incidents — including the break-in at the Watergate building. Once they realize the enormity of what they've uncovered, they become informants for Ferrell's Bob Woodward at the Washington Post.
In an understated performance, Ferrell keeps the comedic attention on Dunst and Williams while still finding moments to shine. He and his co-star, Bruce McCulloch, who plays Carl Bernstein, were praised by Roger Ebert, who wrote, "Comedy like this depends on timing, invention and a cheerful cynicism about human nature. It's wiser and more wicked than the gross-out insult humor of many of the summer's other comedies."
The Producers
Of all the places you'd expect Will Ferrell to turn up, a glitzy film adaptation of a hit Broadway musical is probably not your first pick. Yet, here he is in "The Producers," playing the devoted Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind whose love letter to Adolf Hitler — "Springtime For Hitler" — Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) and Leopold Bloom (Matthew Broderick) pick for their next production. You see, they've hit upon a little accounting scheme: If they produce a show they know will flop badly, they'll be able to pocket all the money from the investors since no one expects a financial return on a musical that's dead on arrival. Is that legal? Don't worry about it!
As Liebkind, Ferrell is permitted to go over the top, brimming with wild-eyed admiration for the Führer. Part of the charm of "The Producers" is that it plays with the concept of bad taste, making Liebkind's scenes a fertile playground for a comic actor of Ferrell's quality. It's a delightful musical, but it's overshadowed by the original 1967 film starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, which is a bona fide comedy classic.
Stranger Than Fiction
A comic actor, especially one as respected and well-known as Will Ferrell, must have a certain amount of screen presence. So it's a bold move for him to take on the role of Harold Crick in "Stranger Than Fiction," who is essentially human wallpaper. He works a boring desk job at the IRS, spending every day brushing every tooth the exact same number of times and taking no risks that could threaten his extremely mundane existence. All of this changes when one day, he begins to hear a voice narrating everything that he does, upending his entire world in the process.
As a step into the world of dramedy, "Stranger Than Fiction" offers Ferrell an opportunity to showcase his skills as a more serious, subtle actor. The film was well-received, but in the years since, it has faded into the background. Still, the journey he goes on throughout "Stranger Than Fiction" is a testament to his acting ability — to say nothing of the fact that he has surprisingly strong chemistry opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is perhaps not the most obvious choice to play his romantic interest but is nonetheless a perfect fit for the offbeat dramedy.
Eurovision
It's a sad commentary on Netflix that "Eurovision" failed to make an impact on audiences. The streaming service produces dozens of films and television shows each year and then repeatedly drops the ball on marketing its most promising projects. Thus, "Eurovision" remains yet another comedic gem in the "Top Picks for You" tab on Netflix, which is a shame, because "Eurovision" is a delightful skewering of one of Europe's grandest traditions, the annual "Eurovision Song Contest." Will Ferrell plays the appropriately named Lars Erickssong, an Icelandic man with a song in his heart and big dreams of winning the international competition.
Filled with original songs that are genuine earworms and an out-of-left-field villain performance from Dan Stevens, "Eurovision" deserves so much more attention than it has received. It's one of the only films in Ferrell's career that has been nominated for an Oscar, with "Husavik" earning a nod for best original song. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent perhaps described it best, writing, "It's exactly as silly and outlandish as it needs to be while still paying sincere respect to one of Europe's great cultural quirks." But fear not. It's currently on Netflix, waiting for audiences to discover it.