Zach Galifianakis is Zach Galifianakis in the feature length adaptation of his Funny or Die series, Between Two Ferns. Here, in a mockumentary, we follow Galifianakis as he must interview ten celebrities by a deadline so that Will Ferrell (played by Will Ferrell in the role he was born to play) will give him a real Prime Time talk show.
If you loved The Smosh Movie…. what’s wrong with you?
If you enjoyed that movie with the Paul brothers… get help immediately.
Between Two Ferns: The Movie is really incredible in that it’s not hot garbage. It takes a concept that can only be called a concept on its best possible day and manages to turn it into a very well put-together film that manages to not only capture a low-budget documentary style of filmmaking in an eerily perfect way, but also manages to stay true to the concept of Zach Galifianakis hosting the world’s most insulting talk show.
The plot is really just a wire to hang the talk show segments on and, honestly, I’m surprised they put as much effort into it as they did. Will Ferrell, for example, has a heck of a time playing a hyper-parodied version of himself, the maniacal leader of Funny or Die with a voracious cocaine habit. Zach Galifianakis is doofy and delightful as his own self-parody, a clueless narcissist who, despite his stupidity and poor decisions and dishonesty is still someone you can root for and hope he finds success.
The true heart of the movie are the ad-libbed interview segments with the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, Tessa Thompson, and Matthew McConaughey. They are uncomfortable, awkward, and funny as anything you will see.
Between Two Ferns: The Movie manages to stretch a short premise into a feature length film in a way that would make all of the drivel that Saturday Night Live passed through its colon and into movie theaters jealous. It’s brilliant in its simplicity, true in its execution, and most importantly… it’s hilarious as any comedy should be.
Jason Gaston 