Who is This Other Will Ferrell?

For most of the movie-going public, Will Ferrell is the wild and crazy funny-man that tends to shed his clothing and act as a moron for laughs. He seems to stick with a similar character throughout his most popular films (Anchorman, Talledega Nights, Semi-Pro, Blades of Glory, and so on) and always makes gobs of money doing so. However, not understanding the range of Will Ferrell's talents is a shame because the man can act.

There are two movies that should be required viewing for anyone who claims to like Will Ferrell because they will both show that he knows when he is handed a good script and that he can take off the loud, sometimes obnoxious, character that America has fallen so deeply in love with. The first film is Melinda and Melinda which was written and directed by Woody Allen and shows Ferrell as an intellectual, nervous, and (this is the shocking part) shy man. Ferrell exists in the comedic side of the film which is about the life of a woman named Melinda and is told in both comedy and tragedy. Of course, this does not by any means suggest that he deserves award recognition for his work, but it does show that he can do something other than scream and run around in the buff.

The second movie worth watching is Winter Passing starring Zooey Deschanel and Ed Harris along with Ferrell. In it, Will plays a very slow-witted wanna-be rock star that is, again, extremely shy. So shy, in fact, that he cannot be on stage and simultaneously play the guitar and sing. This problem leads to a very touching scene at an open mic night. Winter Passing by no means relies on Ferrell's character or persona to survive, but does have fantastic performances by Deschanel and Harris.

In fact, neither Melinda and Melinda or Winter Passing actually stars Will Ferrell, but they both have him as a secondary character. This is a very impressive fact for a couple reasons. One, most Saturday Night Live alums are stuck playing the same character in film after film without much success (Bill Murray and Adam Sandler are the biggest exceptions). Two, stars of Will Ferrell's magnitude do not usually take on rolls that have them as second bill characters. This shows humility and the knowledge that being in a good movie is better than starring in a bad one.

There is something about American cinema that forces the most popular stars to struggle when trying to break their own perceived persona's, which is one of the reasons why neither Winter Passing or Melinda and Melinda received a lot of press or box office success. But it is encouraging to see a talent like Will Ferrell branch out and take on rolls that challenge not only himself, but also his fan base.