Allan Watched "Between Two Ferns: The Movie"
Meeting perfectly at the intersection of stupidity and brilliance, Between Two Ferns: The Movie is a successfully weird and funny film adaption of the hilarious web series that no one ever figured would warrant a feature film.
Gut Feeling
Fewer films are as up my alley as Between Two Ferns: The Movie, directed by my favorite comedic mind Scott Aukerman (host of Comedy Bang Bang) and giving us a very Earwolfian movie that would make any comedy podcast fan shimmer with glee, the film was everything I wanted it to be. The premise is pretty thin, and the movie is certainly not for everyone, but it was an enjoyably bizarre experience from beginning to end.
Spinal Tap Meets UCB
The fully improvised mockumentary that follows Zach Galifianakis and his collection of assistants taking the popular web series on tour across the country feels unscripted. This sounds like a lot less of a compliment than I maybe intend it to be, but it has the feel of an improv sketch that lasts 80 minutes. Galifianakis delivers the off-beat interviews with the world’s biggest stars that makes the web series so special, and the story strewn between each interview is good enough to make it feel worthy of a run-time longer than that of the web series.
It does get repetitive at times, and you never feel fully in each interview, but every one delivers a laugh. Galifianakis’s supporting cast, Lauren Lapkus (Orange is the New Black, Holmes and Watson, and every Earwolf podcast), Rayn Gaul (Bajillion Dollar Properties), and Jiavani Linayao in her film debut (UCB’er in LA) do not get as much screen time as I hoped they would, but each one has a moment or two to shine, and help drive the silly storyline forward.
The Interviews
On their own, the major interviews in the film do not fully live up to the comedic standard set by the web series, but there is enough funny when put together and strewn across 80 minutes to not dip into the “why don’t I just watch the clips” mentality I have seen online. The John Hamm and John Legend lead-ups make the individual sit-downs even funnier, and I’ll take any excuse to see a hungover, bathrobed Peter Dinklage.
I do wish they were all longer, though. I am certain, as proof by the closing credits, that there was a ton cut from the interactions, but having more of the Awkwafina, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brie Larson interviews in would have given it a bit more punch. They felt particularly quick in the grand scheme of the movie.
A Comedy Podcast Fan’s Dream
I am obsessed with comedy podcasts, particularly the ones on Earwolf, so this movie was a treat. Gaul and Lapkis have made me laugh harder alone in the car than I have at any live show during their many podcasts appearances, and even the nod to the fact that John Hamm will do literally any podcast helped me feel like I was in on the joke.
Random Thoughts
It is always awesome to see Will Ferrell being insane. His ten or so minutes on screen had me giggling.
I know it is hard to sell this movie without showing some of the funnier jokes, but the Brie Larson joke being in the trailer is a bit of a bummer, because it is probably the funniest question of the movie.
This is Scott Aukerman’s directorial debut, and really no one else could have done it. He is the mastermind of the web series, Comedy Bang Bang, and a lot of the funniest live moments in award show history (he wrote the Eminem stuff from that famous VMAs incident, and then got fired from writing on the VMAs again because he told a reporter it was a bit, for example). Aukerman has probably influenced my comedic tastes more than anyone else in the industry, and he crushed this movie that could have easily been an unneeded flop.
This movie needed more Ryan Gaul.
Lauren Lapkus may be just too famous to pull off a character role when most of everyone else is playing a dramatized version of themselves, but she is amazing so it doesn’t really matter.
Lapkus’s “chicken strip” joke is the best chicken joke I have ever heard.
Quick Hits:
How many times have I seen this movie?
First time!
Where was I watching it?
On the couch with Kellye. She was about as enthused by the movie as she is when I make her listen to Comedy Bang Bang in the car…
Favorite trivia about the movie
If you liked the movie, you should really listen to episode 619 of Comedy Bang Bang, where Scott and the four main characters talk a ton about the filming of the movie. My favorite tidbit from the podcast is that Aukerman wrote the script as the filming went, which sounds impossible.
Favorite part
The ending credits deliver perhaps the hardest laughs, as you watch everyone fail at not breaking when the insane questions are asked.
Least favorite part
I wish this movie was ten minutes longer and we got exactly one extra minute of each interview.
Would I recommend this movie?
If you like improv, UCB sketch, comedy podcasts, or the web series, definitely! If you don’t like any of those things, maybe I would pass.
So What Does Allan Give It?
One Gold Thumbs Up! Overall, a score of 75. It had everything I wanted, despite a thin premise, and I laughed a lot.
