Between Two Ferns: The Movie Quick View Grade: C+
Source: IMDB
Between Two Ferns: The Movie is based around the funny parody talk show host web skit series Between Two Ferns, hosted by yours truly Zach Galifianakis. After the Between Two Ferns studio was destroyed by plumbing issues, Zach and his crew must travel city to city, interviewing celebrities. Zach must create ten episodes ordered by the creator of Between Two Ferns Will Ferrell, if Zach delivers all episodes in LA in seven days, Zach will be rewarded his dream as he can own a late night television show. Will Zach and his crew deliver Will’s demands in time? I’ve never watched a Between Two Ferns Episode start to finish, I see clips rolling around Twitter time to time. The one I’ve taken notice towards was when Obama dissed Hangover Part 3, while Zach was claiming how disappointing it was he didn’t get a third term in office... That was funny. Between Two Ferns: The Movie in quality is no surprise what I’ve received: A standard TV Comedy Movie. A quick comparison to this film would be 2017’s Netflix original film David Brent: Life on the Road, both are quite similar films featuring an adaptation from a series. I prefer David Brent: Life on the Road over this one, perhaps maybe Ricky Gervais is a better comedian than Zach that’s maybe why it’s better. But as far as plot, film making, comedy style, presentation... Both films are identical. So let’s discuss Between Two Ferns: The Movie. Visually the film looks fine, it’s what I expected from a TV comedy movie, for what it is it’s fine. The Score if you can call it a Score was forgettably average, it’s been a day since I watched this film as I don’t remember a single tune. The cast in this film were fine, our main characters and cameo’s were equally fine. Zach Galifianakis playing himself was fine, he had some comedic moments in this film that were funny. As far as his character: Fine. A successful internet talk show host, that wanted to live his dream as a talk show host on late night television. Though in a comfortable place in life, Zach wanted to become the person whom he dreamt of becoming... Totally relatable to anyone in a way. I think the problem is that there is no taking risk to this character’s career change. Maybe in the third act, Will Ferrell could’ve offer the contract, explaining once you sign this contract, there is no going back to where you originally started, it’s all or nothing. I kind of liked the cameos in this film, however I’m underwhelmed with the missed opportunities of insulting jokes Zach could’ve pulled off with the celebrities he had featured on the show. Like I had this funny joke involving Brie Larson that would’ve pissed her off, as Zach intends to do that with every guest... A damn shame he couldn’t pull it off. I thought the best cameo made was John Legend by far, it was pretty cool. The story was ok at best, a typical cliche storyline for a TV movie I’ve seen thousands of times before. The predictably became very noticeable at times, as you can see where things were heading a mile away. But on a positive note the story kept me engaged with the film, as I didn’t feel bored much at all, despite not being wowed by anything written, it’s a fine watch. The comedy material was fine as well. Some parts were funny, some were not so funny, it’s hit or miss with the comedy material. Whether you’re a fan of Between Two Ferns or not like myself, I felt the film is equivalent to fast food: It’s not fine dining, but it’s simple, quick, and gets the job done temporarily. Overall, Between Two Ferns: The Movie was an average film. If you’re completely bored with nothing to do, give it a try I guess to pass time. -Mitch Smietana