Will Ferrell had a field day portraying President George W. Bush on “Saturday Night Live.” But so far he’s kept his political humor out of his film work.
Not anymore.
The comic’s new movie, “The Other Guys,” features a foe straight out of the “evil capitalist” playbook.
“Live for excess … it’s the American way,” the scoundrel played by Steve Coogan cries at the end of a speech meant to cement his dastardly bona fides.
The irony is pretty thick. Here’s an industry (Hollywood) that’s all about excess featuring workers (actors) whose salaries epitomize said excess. Wonder if that thought crossed Ferrell’s mind while shooting the scene?
But “The Other Guys’” most ideological moments come at the very end.
The film’s credits include a graphic commentary on economic woes, from Ponzi scheme breakdowns to the wages earned by worker drones – and their bosses.
It’s as incongruous a moment as you’re likely to see at the movies, a silly comedy capped by dire economic figures.
Politics aside, the decision doesn’t serve the project – or Ferrell – well. How much better would it have been to include some gag reel-style moments over the closing credits? Instead, they’re left to decipher facts and figures utterly out of place with the rest of the movie.
Ferrell may have shrewdly relegated the most inflammatory material to the back end of his new movie. But he also blew the chance to let the audiences return to their cars with a chuckle, not a furrowed brow.
UPDATE: The great Kurt Loder offers this tidbit on Ferrell’s attempt at Poly-Sci 101: “As always, though, this rote Hollywood moralizing sits awkwardly in a big-budget film, especially one starring a man who reportedly makes $20-million a picture.”
Related posts:
on 
on 
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Sigh…thanks, Christian, you just saved me another $10. On second thought, I don’t think I was going to spend it on another Will Ferrell movie anyway.
I couldn’t agree more on the point about the irony. It’s interesting that most folks on the left whine incessently about evil rich CEOs and the huge bonuses they receive even when they make bad decisions that eventually cost the company millions (granted, I have a problem with rewarding bad performances, but I recognize that I’m not on the board of directors so its not my decision on how to run the company…I decide by not buying their product).
Yet, at the same time, Hollywood is willing to forgive huge payouts to actors who make bad decisions and bad performances that eventually cost the movie studio millions. I’m not the one who greenlights these awful projects and it’s not up to me what they produce…I decide by not buying a ticket or DVD.
Somehow I have difficulty believing Ferrell is on the side of the “little guy”. In the light of his coming out of the closet as a committed leftist, his performance in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby becomes a nasty satire on southern middle class whites.
Finally, what percentage of company CEOs make what he does a year?
The political material in Ferrell’s new film doesn’t ruin the experience for conservatives or anyone else – others like Kyle Smith disagree on this point. The story’s flaws do that all by themselves.
It’s just interesting to see Ferrell and McKay letting their politics bleed into mainstream entertainment. I suspect most people won’t blink an eye over it … but I could be wrong.
Even if Ferrell left out the political proselytizing, I still would avoid his movies like the plague because I’ve never found him remotely funny.
Paula — I hear that from a LOT of people. Don’t know if it’s always been the case, but plenty of people tell me they simply don’t find him funny. I wonder if it’s always been the case or there’s some Ferrell burnout happening.
>>The irony is pretty thick. Here’s an industry (Hollywood) that’s all about excess featuring workers (actors) whose salaries epitomize said excess. Wonder if that thought crossed Ferrell’s mind while shooting the scene? <<
*v.* insightful, WWTW – and strikes the familiar chord of the Industry marketing a far different image of itself than it actually has, but Ferrell is just a contract employee; do we really expect him to bite the hand that feeds him?
~ D.
Will Ferrell was recently determined to be the least bankable star in Hollywood. In other words, his movies do not make money even by the fallacious accounting standards employed by Hollywood. Obviously audiences do not consider him worth watching in spite of Hollywood’s determination to foist him upon the world.
This from a guy who RUINED Land of the Lost, was the least appealing thing in Talladega Nights, and has not had a good performance since Old School. The stages of being an star actor:
1. Love your craft.
2. Love the attention.
3. Love the money.
4. Love the attention your money generates.
5. Think, because of the attention, what you think actually mean something.
6. Get sick of the little people. Get high. If lucky, go to jail to cement your rebel cred.
7. Out of guilt at your disgust of the little people, speak and vote for socialist causes.
8. Stay sick of the little people and shop for shoes and homes in Europe. Stop visiting any U.S. destination but LA, NY, and Miami.
9. Go on Larry King to prove your ideas are relevant, at least to you.
10. Fire your personal trainer and bask in your own sense of self worth.
11. Beg to do a movie with Roman Polanski.
Lazy Jack
And how much difference is their between what Farrell made for this movie as opposed to the camera man who shot it? Hollywood hypocrisy at it’s best, ignored and approved of by the media in general.
Speaking of excess, Ferrell’s price tag is the most excessive in Hollywood based on return. He demands salary in the 10s of millions while his films barely nudge $100 million total most of the time.
GREAT point, Joe.
And Daggy — Ferrell and McKay are clearly the driving force behind this movie. I doubt this all goes down without Ferrell’s say so.
How talentless people like Ferrell and Ben Affleck get employed is a mystery. They are the worst actors in Hollywood.
Ferrell’s performance in “Bewitched” (and every other film he’s been in) was completely forgettable. Though he was typecast, he couldn’t even play a bad actor well. His acting simply stinks.
And Affleck is a tree stump in everything he’s ever done.
They both prove that leftward ideology pays more in Hollywood than real talent.
No surprise. These morally corrupt celebs are typical. They think they are so more sophisticated and much more intelligent then us idiot rubes in the rest of the country. And for him, an actor, from Hollywood…the epitomy of excess and narcissism? I mean really. I have never cared what Hollywood or its baboon acting celebs say or think.
“The irony is pretty thick.”
How about the hypocrisy?
How about a comparison of Hollywood Producers, Directors and Major Actors to the lowest paid schlub working on the few remaining movie shoots in SoCal?
Now THAT would be embarrassing.
While I’m sure that there are plenty of people who never found him funny, I remember before 2003 (the year of Elf) there were a lot of people saying that Ferrell was hilarious in supporting roles, and should get some movies of his own. I imagine that most of those people are completely sick of him by now, as am I. Ferrell has become an antistar, he must drive away a much larger proportion of the audience than he attracts.
I decided not to waste any of my hard earned money on these leftists liberals Hollywood movies. He who laughs last…laughs loudest.
So am I to assume you support ponzy schemes and rich capitalist taking advantage of the middle class? I loved the movie and I love Will Ferrell. Screw the irony and stop being so damned partisan.
Argyle,
Ponzi schemes and capitalism aren’t intertwined and it’s simplistic to lump them together …
I’m not being partisan … I’m pointing out that a mainstream comedy takes a decided point of view regarding current economic events. Ferrell has tackled political humor before, but not on the big screen. It’s worth noting.
I critiqued the movie elsewhere on other points … I didn’t take anything away from the movie because of its partisan angle. Although I felt the closing credits were a poor match for the film in toto. That seems pretty obvious.
And what are your thoughts on actors like Ferrell who make millions on a film while the guys and gals doing the grunt work on the set make a pittance in comparison?
But Mr. Toto, once in a grand while they drop a really big tip on some unsuspecting waitperson. Noblesse oblige at it’s finest, no?
hasn’t been funny for years…
Christian,
I haven’t looked at the “pro” version of IMDB, because I don’t subscribe, but Ferrell is not listed as a writer or a producer. I know he’s of this mind — anyone who watched “Funny or Die” during the Obama campaign knows that — but I wonder if too much heat on Ferrell is being applied. If he is standing up and saying these things in the credits, that’s one thing. But if it’s just scrolling … that’s on the producers and the director.
This is said from one who cherishes Ferrell’s work in “Elf,” and a very few other films. Just wondering.
Check the ordinary version again: he’s listed as an executive producer for The Other Guys.
Ferrell, McKay and Henchy (the latter two wrote the film) are buds who co-created Funny or Die comedy web site. So I’m sure the project has their collective fingerprints all over it.