Improvisational, but not sensational
The Strand was lucky enough to see a screening of Between Two Ferns: The Movie as a part of JFL42’s Comedy Con. The director, Scott Aukerman, and actor in the film, Lauren Lapkus, sat down afterwards to do a Q&A about the film and the filmmaking process. This review doesn’t include the post-screening discussion but we encourage you to check out episode #619 of the Comedy Bang Bang podcast which features the director and additional cast members discussing similar themes.
Zach Galifianakis’s Between Two Ferns self carries a cringe-based comedy over ten hilarious celebrity interviews and then some, but it’s what is outside of this comedic bread and butter that limits the film from being something greater than an improvisational achievement.
Nothing is short of impressive when making a film that is largely improvised. This is one of the film’s greatest successes—every awkward and dry moment between characters is made to feel all the more real, spontaneous, and funny. But this same high wire act seems to equally limit the development of the story itself.
The plot of this film is as straightforward as it comes. Will Ferrell, the Funny or Die executive, demands a deadline from Galifianakis in exchange for one of Zach’s childhood dreams. While this bare-bones storyline allows for the improvisational elements of the film to be fleshed out in deeper and wilder bits, it ultimately comes across as safe and a bit bland. Don’t get me wrong, the film knows the interviews are its McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce and dips back into that comedy condiment many times throughout the course of the film—and it’s fantastic. Joking aside, this is the film’s greatest strength, and if you enjoy the Between Two Ferns web series then you will most definitely enjoy this swift 82-minute mockumentary. For this reason, every moment outside of the interviews feels empty and filled with characters who we never learn anything about or really have any time to invest ourselves in. While you may not want a nuanced plot in a movie about celebrities being insulted to their faces, it still feels overly simple and not enough comedic risk-taking to make it worthwhile.
Now I realize this is a comedy, and character development is the last thing you care about in the grand scheme of things; however, you are left feeling like you’ve watched an elongated interview series as opposed to a dynamic road-trip movie. And by the time the ending rolls around with Zach and his crew, you catch yourself asking: Who are these people? Carol, played by Lauren Lapkus, gets the most screen time next to Galifianakas, and is definitely the most unique and noticeable character next to the protagonist. But even still, her relationship with Galifianakas never gets fleshed out to the degree that’s necessary for the character’s in-movie decisions to elicit audience commiseration, or even understanding (this being most evident at the end of the film). More so, Cam and “Boom Boom” barely have speaking roles and are as inactive in the movie as the equipment they operate.
Now as I take my foot off of the critique pedal, I do want to credit the movie where credit is due; it was very enjoyable. While it’s not as complete a film as other recent comedies—Booksmart, to name an example—it still holds up as a thoroughly entertaining film from back to front; the cameos are plentiful, the interviews are hilarious, and there are very few lulls in-between. The film’s greatest weakness is its conscious effort to stray away from creating a multi-layered storyline, which results in a movie with laugh-out loud Christopher Lloyd inspired interviews alongside hit-and-miss transitions. While this movie won’t crack my top ten comedies, it’s definitely a great answer to the problem: “I’m bored (procrastinating) and I want to watch and eat at the same time, and maybe have some laughs along the way.”
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