With leads like will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, two of the biggest comedy stars of the last 30 years, it would be reasonable at first glance to expect Downhill to be a laugh fest. This is, however, a Hollywood remake of the lauded Swedish drama Force Majeure, a film that had it quirks but wasn’t exactly a riotous romp. Here,
Read moreThe original Zoolander was a genuinely funny, inventive comedy that affectionately mocked the bizarre world of high fashion. With its endearingly silly humour, excellent use of music and its unusually striking pop-art visual style, the film melted audience cynicism and ensconced itself in that list of repeat watch DVD’s. It greatest triumph, though, was to create indelible characters who have
Read moreJuvenile his films certainly are but will Ferrell has an almost magical ability to leave otherwise mature adults rolling on the floor with laughter at his emotionally overwrought man-child antics. The magic isn’t quite there, however, in his latest farce Get Hard. A ludicrous plot, uninspired jokes, cringe-worthy stereotypes and not quite enough Ferrell insanity render Get Hard a disappointing
Read moreThe Ron Burgundy Anchorman films are the contemporary equivalent of the Austen Powers movies; heavily art-directed, retro-themed pop-cultural parodies where a naïve, politically-incorrect but lovable central character manages to triumph despite his overwhelming stupidity. The first Anchorman film was a fun, endearing fitfully amusing satire of 1970’s sexism and the news reading profession that allowed Will Ferrell to gloriously indulge
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