Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
September 21, 2019 8:13 AM - Subscribe
Zach Galifianakis and his oddball crew take a road trip to complete a series of high-profile celebrity interviews. Come for the cameos. Stay for the credits.
You might just want to insert a sanitary pad in your underpants before watching this if you have sensitive skin.
You might just want to insert a sanitary pad in your underpants before watching this if you have sensitive skin.
It was....... okay? Very hit and miss. They tried really hard to make a 4-minute thing work for 90 minutes and sometimes succeeded. Some of the jokes felt, ahem, dated (basically anything that Will Ferrell said) but the actual Between Two Ferns segments were good (and so were the bloopers.)
posted by KTamas at 11:44 AM on September 21, 2019
posted by KTamas at 11:44 AM on September 21, 2019
Zach Galifianakis has been promoting it on cable-access TV shows. Here is his appearance on Let's Paint TV.
posted by jimw at 5:10 PM on September 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jimw at 5:10 PM on September 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
A real disappointment. There’s a lot of funny people in, and behind, this movie. What happened? Sure, a “4-minute thing” was never going to become a great movie, but, geez, I still expected to laugh some. Some more than a few times. What a bummer. Crinkled face emoji.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 7:05 PM on September 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 7:05 PM on September 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Comedy Bang Bang episode this week promoting it started off pretty rocky. I remember Scott told a story that boiled down to being unprepared for production on the film to start.
posted by books for weapons at 9:00 PM on September 21, 2019
posted by books for weapons at 9:00 PM on September 21, 2019
Okay, from a narrative perspective this was a disaster, but I laughed pretty hard multiple times. The misspelled titles and credits for each celebrity, the use of the ferns over and over and that they were literally run into the ground, twice, or maybe three times, Dinklage's carton of Faberge eggs, yeah, I could have done without the Teigen/Legend bit, but the Letterman interview was breathtaking.
I didn't care that credits revealed the celebrities were in on the gag, of course they were. I love that Zach broke them, and it was even better when they broke Zach. I grew up on the Carol Burnett Show and I was conditioned to find the performers successfully competing to break each other a gold standard in comedy. And to have permission to say those things to celebrities is fun to watch. Yes, I know this points to me being a bit of a simpleton. So be it.
posted by Stanczyk at 6:37 AM on September 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I didn't care that credits revealed the celebrities were in on the gag, of course they were. I love that Zach broke them, and it was even better when they broke Zach. I grew up on the Carol Burnett Show and I was conditioned to find the performers successfully competing to break each other a gold standard in comedy. And to have permission to say those things to celebrities is fun to watch. Yes, I know this points to me being a bit of a simpleton. So be it.
posted by Stanczyk at 6:37 AM on September 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
the Letterman interview was breathtaking.
Easily the best moment of the film. Especially Letterman's delightful laugh when Zack explains how having his own late night show will make everything ok.
That said, I kinda felt like the bits in between the interviews were some kind of attempt at subverting the usual tropes of this type of movie - band of misfits goes on adventure together & bonds; main character has moment of breakdown and leaves, only to return and finish the quest; achieving all the goals doesn't mean victory as the villain thwarts them anyhow - by simply having them happen and moving on as fast as possible (e.g., Will Ferrel pulls the rug out from under Zack, only to reveal the lawyer standing there with the contract; fame makes Zack change, only to be confronted by his friends and leave everything behind 5 minutes later). Unfortunately, it doesn't really work.
The outtakes had me crying with laughter, particularly Brie Larson who has a delightful laugh.
posted by nubs at 10:20 AM on September 22, 2019
Easily the best moment of the film. Especially Letterman's delightful laugh when Zack explains how having his own late night show will make everything ok.
That said, I kinda felt like the bits in between the interviews were some kind of attempt at subverting the usual tropes of this type of movie - band of misfits goes on adventure together & bonds; main character has moment of breakdown and leaves, only to return and finish the quest; achieving all the goals doesn't mean victory as the villain thwarts them anyhow - by simply having them happen and moving on as fast as possible (e.g., Will Ferrel pulls the rug out from under Zack, only to reveal the lawyer standing there with the contract; fame makes Zack change, only to be confronted by his friends and leave everything behind 5 minutes later). Unfortunately, it doesn't really work.
The outtakes had me crying with laughter, particularly Brie Larson who has a delightful laugh.
posted by nubs at 10:20 AM on September 22, 2019
I enjoyed it. They took a pretty basic story arc but made it goofy enough to work in the framework. Zack giving up his whole dreams and show so casually after a goofy little speech was good. I really like Lauren Lapkus in this, or, just her in general so that was fun. Like, in a lot of ways this movie shouldn't have been made. It doesn't quite reach the depths of the Tim and Eric Billion Dollar movie, where it probably shouldn't have been made, but it was, and because of that it turned out pretty amazing. But it was way less than I'd expect a between two ferns movie. I also like Zack in this role a lot more than the ones they put him in the Hangover and few jobs he got after Hangover.
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:38 AM on September 23, 2019
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:38 AM on September 23, 2019
"I'm not a practicing Jew....I perfected it."
This line, and especially Paul Rudd's delivery of it, was the highlight of my viewing experience. I feel certain this has to be an old joke, an ancient joke, it's too obvious not to have been used before, but it was well-used here.
posted by wabbittwax at 1:36 PM on September 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
This line, and especially Paul Rudd's delivery of it, was the highlight of my viewing experience. I feel certain this has to be an old joke, an ancient joke, it's too obvious not to have been used before, but it was well-used here.
posted by wabbittwax at 1:36 PM on September 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
I didn't think much of this film - though admittedly I'm not much of a ferns fan. I thought the funniest part was the outtakes at the end. Which kind of explains why I have never found between two ferns very funny - it only uses the jokes that are lame enough that the guests have no trouble not laughing at them. Anything funny enough to make them crack up gets cut out.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 7:08 PM on September 24, 2019
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 7:08 PM on September 24, 2019
WAIT!!!
Can anyone add to “tags”, even if it’s not their posts??
posted by growabrain at 4:36 PM on September 25, 2019
Can anyone add to “tags”, even if it’s not their posts??
posted by growabrain at 4:36 PM on September 25, 2019
I agree with one reviewer out there who said the interviews in the movie don't have quite the bite of the regular show's interviews. I think this had to do with the premise of the movie. In the movie, Zach comes off as a guy who really is trying to be a credible talk show host but for whatever reason is clueless. In the regular show, it comes off more like Zach is a jerk ln purpose and revels in it.
Still, the interviews were the best parts of the movie and the credits segments were great.
posted by Fukiyama at 9:35 AM on September 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Still, the interviews were the best parts of the movie and the credits segments were great.
posted by Fukiyama at 9:35 AM on September 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
The premise and connective tissue holding the interviews together ("Zach and crew go on a road trip!") was flimsy, but of course it was. This movie was basically a bunch of actors doing cameos and making jokes at each others expense, and I thought it so pretty well.
The trailer gave away most of the best punchlines which was a shame.
Favorite gag: Jon Hamm signing autographs in some random community church for no apparent reason, because he never says no to anything.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 10:05 AM on September 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
The trailer gave away most of the best punchlines which was a shame.
Favorite gag: Jon Hamm signing autographs in some random community church for no apparent reason, because he never says no to anything.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 10:05 AM on September 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
I already couldn't stand Will Ferrell and this movie gave me comfort in my convictions.
posted by gatorae at 8:37 AM on October 6, 2019
posted by gatorae at 8:37 AM on October 6, 2019
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posted by nubs at 8:36 AM on September 21, 2019 [5 favorites]