I used to find Will Ferrell extremely irritating.

All that posturing, those dumb voices, that enforced stupidity.

But then I watched Stranger than Fiction, which immediately zoomed to one of my top three favourite movies of all time (and which was on M-Net last night, if anyone happened to see it).

Will Ferrell in a serious role! As a taxman! I never thought I’d see the day.

All of a sudden, I saw him as a person, not a caricature, and somehow that opened up the possibility of me seeing the genius in his comedy. The same thing happened when I saw Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The idiot man turned serious … it’s a powerful role.

So in light of the fact that the news is filled with desperation at every corner at the moment, perhaps it’s time for some lighthearted fare. Here are a few of my favourite Will Ferrell features:

  • Saturday Night Live. He’s really the star here, along with Tina Fey. Pretty hard to contest that, methinks.
  • Blades of Glory. Hilariously stupid and totally over the top. But what great skating!
  • Talladega Nights. Similarly ridiculous, but worth it to see Borat say: “Reeky Booby”.
  • Winter Passing. Not one of his huge hits, but a really interesting role played superbly. (He’s a hermit.)
  • Superbly acted bit parts in Wedding Crashers and Zoolander. Two legendary dumb-funny movies.

    Next up? I wonder …

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    Bridget McNulty

    Bridget McNulty

    Bridget McNulty is a writer, content strategist and creative director. She is the editor of Sweet Life diabetes lifestyle magazine (www.sweetlifemag.co.za) and...

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