Will Ferrell Ranked

Welcome to the latest edition of my "Ranked" series, where I rank a franchise or the filmography of an actor/director from worst to best and hand out related accolades. This week, I'm profiling the work of Will Ferrell-whose latest project "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" hits Netflix on Friday. 

Will Ferrell's Filmography Ranked:
35.The House (C)
34.Casa De Mi Padre (C)
33.Superstar (C)
32.Zoolander 2 (C+)
31.Holmes & Watson (B-)
30.Semi-Pro (B-)
29.Kicking & Screaming (B-)
28.Get Hard (B-)
27.Stranger Than Fiction (B-)
26.Everything Must Go (B-)
25.Land of the Lost (B)
24.Daddy's Home 2 (B)
23.Daddy's Home (B)
22.The Internship (B)
21.The Ladies Man (B)
20.The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (B)
19.The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (B)
18.A Night at the Roxbury (B)
17.Blades of Glory (B)
16.The Campaign (B+)
15.Between Two Ferns: The Movie (B+)
14.Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (B+)
13.Starsky & Hutch (B+)
12.Wedding Crashers (B+)
11.The Lego Movie (B+)
10.Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (B+)
9.Elf (B+)
8.Old School (B+)
7.Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (A-)
6.Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (A-)
5.Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (A)
4.The Other Guys (A)
3.Zoolander (A)
2.Step Brothers (A)
1.Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (A+)

Top Dog: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004):
Despite #2-5 being movies that I consider to be iconic comedies that are perfectly tailored to my sense of humor, Anchorman remains an easy #1 pick. There hasn't been another comedy that I've ever watched more than this and even after nearly 10 watches, the shine of this gut-busting masterpiece hasn't worn off at all. It's the comedic equivalent of watching a team of maestros work and their collective brilliance results in some of the most inspired, insane and overwhelmingly hilarious things I've ever seen on film. Ferrell, Adam McKay, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koechner, Fred Willard and everybody else that utters a joke here deserves a place in a hypothetical Comedy Hall of Fame just for this priceless contribution to the artform.    

Lowlight: The House (2017):
While the bulk of Ferrell's recent output hasn't been particularly good, the shoulder-shrugging, mind-numbing mediocrity of The House is enough to put it firmly below the rest of the merely passable affairs he's been churning out with regularity for much of the past decade. How Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas and roughly a dozen other respected comic actors teamed up for a film about three clueless, financially-challenged suburbanites who team up to run an underground casino in their neighborhood wasn't a standout comedy truly boggles the mind. That premise feels like the perfect jumping off point for the type of wild, vulgar comedy that both the on-screen talent and writing/directing team of Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien (Mike and Dave Wedding Dates, both Neighbors movies) have excelled at throughout their careers yet the entire project feels like it almost consciously goes out of its way to neuter the constant opportunities for outrageous comedy gold to be mined. Everybody involved feels like they've been instructed to hold back for whatever reason and the few gags that do hit, almost all of which are in the redband trailer, are just a depressing sign of what could've been had these talented folks just played up absurd, unpredictable humor a movie like this needs to thrive.      

Most Underrated: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013):
Considering the nearly 9-year wait and how the sequel to another cult classic comedy from the 2000's that I'll discuss further in a little bit turned out, Anchorman 2 was pretty much a runaway success story. The entire cast effortlessly slides back into their iconic characters, the absurd, satirical spirit is still very much in tact and there's plenty of scenes/improvised lines here that are cripplingly funny. 

Most Overrated: Stranger Than Fiction (2006):
Chalk this one up to something just not really being in my wheelhouse. Emma Thompson is pretty great as a jaded famous author whose depression-induced writer's block begins to threaten her career and its fantastical meta elements are clever at times, but the film is ultimately too quirky and cutesy for me to have anything more than a fleeting appreciation for it.

Best Character: Ron Burgundy (Anchorman, Anchorman 2):
Before Anchorman came along, Ferrell was already a rising star thanks to his successful tenure on Saturday Night Live and a couple of memorable turns in some dumb comedies (Zoolander, Old School) that found fanatical audiences upon their home video releases. With Burgundy, he found the perfect vessel for his comedic gifts and a character that will define him as a performer for the rest of time. Playing an exaggerated version of the overly confident, blissfully ignorant anchormen that dominated the landscape of 70's broadcast news provides Ferrell with a tremendous opportunity to flex his absurd comedy muscles by dispensing memorable quotes and inspired bits of physical comedy at a machine gun clip for 90 minutes. He's the Michael Jordan of fictional comic idiots and I'm not confident this level of dominance will ever be seen in a movie again.                  

Most Inexplicable, Soul-Crushing Letdown: Zoolander 2 (2016):
Zoolander 2 should've been great. Ben Stiller seemed very passionate about making a sequel every time he was asked about it publicly and when it finally got greenlit, all of the key players (Owen Wilson, Ferrell, Jerry Stiller, Mila Jovovich, Justin Theroux, Christine Taylor) from the brilliant original agreed to return alongside some very some impressive new additions (Penelope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Kyle Mooney, Fred Armisen). Very little of that promise actually translated to the finished product. The combination of a script that lacks much of its predecessors tongue-in-cheek wit and a cast that outside of Stiller and Wiig didn't bring their fastball results in a frustratingly erratic comedy that whiffs more than it hits.