8. Everything Must Go
More a drama than a comedy, this is one of the more subdued and understated performances from Mr. Ferrell. But that’s exactly why Everything Must Go has made it on to my list.
Where the majority of his performances are filled with comedic value this one feels sincerely heartfelt. Playing Nick Halsey, a middle-aged man whose alcoholism relapse causes him to lose his wife and job, Ferrell swaps out the comedy for drama and delivers far more convincingly than his earlier attempt in Stranger Than Fiction. A true masterclass of a comedy actor in a dramatic role.
Everything Must Go shows that should he choose, Will Ferrell could easily make the swap between comedy and drama, just as other actors in his field have (Jim Carrey and Robin Williams, to name a few).
7. Step Brothers
Will Ferrell’s partnership with John C. Reilly has produced some of his funniest movies, with Step Brothers being the first of two Ferrell/Reilly shindigs to feature on our list.
To play a grown up kid must be every comedic actor’s dream and the actor is well in his element hre. The chemistry between Ferrell and Reilly is how Step Brothers was able to become so much more than your typical immature adult movie. The way that the pair bounce off each other allows them to deliver downright hysterical performances, which are in my eyes, schools above any of Adam Sandler’s attempts to play a man-child like character. See Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore.
As you’d come to expect from a Will Ferrell flick, the absurdity and immaturity is here in the abundance. In fact, I’d go as far to say that Step Brothers is the most immature of his adventures. Some would argue that the film took the absurdity level a bit too far, but frankly, as long as you don’t go into it expecting an intellectual comedy you’ll quickly see that this is one of Ferrell’s funniest outings.
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