Netflix picked up Funny or Die’s mock talk show, Between Two Ferns, for a full feature length film and every minute was excruciatingly cringe-worthy and unfunny.
I’m a pretty big fan of Zach Galifianakis’ style of deadpan humour but Netflix proved that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. However, in the case of Between Two Ferns the Movie, the wit that made the Funny or Die mock talk show so great is completely missing, leaving us with 82 minutes of terribly unfunny jokes.
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All the things that made Between Two Ferns so special to begin with have been completely ignored and Galifanakis is so self-aware in his own movie that he breaks character to apologise or explain his jokes throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the old Between Two Ferns skits because, in a way, they were mini roasts of A-list Hollywooders. People weren’t laughing at Galifanakis, they were laughing with him, but the film changed this formula and reminded us that Galifanakis is the unhinged sexist, racist talk show host and that we should seek humour in how awkward his guest stars feel and not the jokes themselves. So, we have a comedy movie that punishes you for laughing at any of the jokes because, like they pointed out, you shouldn’t be laughing with him, you should be laughing at him.
Between Two Ferns Review: Unfunny and unoriginal
The movie was almost devoid of any smart humour and instead we are left with jokes like “I deserve my own special because I’m a straight, white male.” Even the edgier jokes are terrible and Galifanakis is quick to remind us of this because he apologises for being offensive almost immediately after. “My favourite X-Man is Caitlyn Jenner. That’s not an offensive joke because I honestly thought she was in one of the movies.” Apart from Galifanakis sometimes butchering the names of his guest stars, this is pretty much all there is to the movie.
Between Two Ferns the Movie seems like a movie that could have be written by any 12 year old kid that loves dick an fart jokes, as is evident with Zach Galifanakis literally calling himself Dick Farthouse. There’s nothing really there for adults. The best part of the movie comes when the credits roll; the outtakes and bloopers are pretty damn hilarious and I would have loved to see more of that.
This movie is a terribly unfunny disappointment. It feels like Hollywood is just giving themselves a pat on the back instead of partaking in some self deprecating, gallows humour. Remember, you shouldn’t be laughing with Galifanakis for making fun of these actors, you should be laughing at him because of how stupid he is.