The 10 Best Will Ferrell Movies

Since his appearance in 1995's Bucket or Blood, Will Ferrell's 23-year movie career has included dozens of films. Believe it or not, Holmes and Watson, a comedic take on the legendary detective duo, is his 50th(!) feature. At least one of the following films, the best from his extensive resume, are sure to provide you with plenty of yucks.





10. The Other Guys

When supercops Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock get killed in the line of duty, the NYPD reluctantly looks further down the bench and lets extra-passive Allen Gamble and hot-headed Terry "Yankee Clipper" Hoitz play in the big game. In this case, that means trying to foil a billion dollar Ponzi scheme involving a murderous cover-up.

This 2010 action-comedy (which cast also features Bobby Cannavale) about a pair of bickering law enforcement professionals -- one a pencil-pusher with no field experience, the other a macho veteran -- working the same case following the death of the office hotshot(s), seems to be the template for 2015's Spy.

Ferrell sings in this one too.

9. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Probably the Will Ferrell movie that gets the most attention, Talladega Nights may have been initially conceived as a simple parody of the Tom Cruise flick, Days of Thunder, but it's much more. Featuring John C. Reilly (who was also in Days of Thunder) as the title character's lifelong wingman, Cal Naughton Jr., Talladega Nights is the story of the rise and fall and comeback of moronic stock car racer Ricky Bobby, whose life philosophy is: "If you ain't first, you're last."

You'll love the family dinner/fast-food smorgasbord at which Ricky's kids mouth off to their grandfather, prompting this exchange:

Grandpa Chip: "Are you gonna let those boys talk to me like that?"

Ricky Bobby: "Hell, yeah. I love the way they're talking to you, Chip."

You'll also get a kick outta seeing a pre-fame Amy Adams, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the late Michael Clark Duncan.

8. Elf

Elf may be the most viewed Will Ferrell movie as it gets broadcast every December and July (as part of some networks' "Christmas in July" series). Ferrell shows off his singing skills in this holiday favorite about a giant elf's (Ferrell's 6'3") quest to reunite with the father he never knew.

Actually, Ferrell's character, Buddy, isn't really an elf. After he climbs into St. Nick's gift sack as a toddler when the big man visits his orphanage, baby Buddy gets a ride to the North Pole. The little dude gets his name when workshop elves read the label on his "Little Buddy Diapers". Buddy is then adopted by Papa Elf and later trained to build toys like his "peers". As the years go by it's obvious to everyone but Buddy himself that he literally doesn't fit in. When he learns that he's human and that his biological father, Walter Hobbs, is on the naughty list, Buddy makes it his mission to meet his old man and to make him eligible for the nice list.

After tracking his dad to New York City and being dismissed as a headcase, Buddy gets a job and even winds up with a girlfriend. And after Walter agrees to a DNA test, which proves his paternity, he finally accepts Buddy as his son.

Keep your eyes peeled for Buddy's discovery of revolving doors. And on a personal note, I used to share his tendency to cover his food with syrup - until I stepped up my nutrition game.

I won't spoil the ending for you. You can see it for yourself over and over again in the next couple of weeks...and in July...and next December.

7. Kicking & Screaming

Ferrell learns at the feet of legendary football coach Mike Ditka (playing himself) as Phil Weston, a mild-mannered vitamin shop owner who agrees to coach his son's little-league soccer team. The funniest moment comes when after Phil's wife attempts to cheer him up with a pep talk about how great a husband he is, he turns to her and asks, "What does that have to do with anything?!?"

6. Megamind

Ferrell goes blue as the titular villain in this superhero movie about a bad guy who finally kills his archnemesis -- but then realizes that he has nothing else to do with his life. Premiering four months after Despicable Me, another animated movie revolving around a supervillain, Megamind may have just missed the boat on launching a billion dollar franchise (which Despicable Me actually did). Megamind's hilarious pronunciation of his adopted home, Metro City, never gets old.

5. Land of the Lost

Goofy 1970s television series Land of the Lost made for a great candidate for the big-screen remake treatment. I mean, it couldn't get any worse. Far outshining Ferrell's other tv show remake, Bewitched, the criminally underrated LOTL features Will as arrogant paleontologist Dr. Rick Marshall who proves his time warp theory the hard way when he; his biggest only fan, Holly Cantrell; and gift shop owner Will Stanton find themselves running from dinosaurs, ginormous mosquitos and lizard people after using devices that look like leftover Ghostbusters equipment.

4. Step Brothers

Ferrell's second team-up with John C. Reilly once again features the duo as both rivals and best friends. This time, the two are brought together when Brennan Huff's (Ferrell) mom marries Dale Doback's (Reilly) dad. Because Brennan and Dale both live with their parents (despite both being middle-aged), they wind up under the same roof -- and sharing the same bedroom -- when Brennan's mom moves into casa de Doback (bringing him along).

Initially, they can't stand each other and even come to blows when Brennan touches Dale's drum set (he really touches it). But eventually the new siblings bond over shared interests and a mutual hatred of Brennan's bullying younger brother Derek.

3. Everything Must Go

Flexing his dramatic muscles, Ferrell stars alongside Biggie's son C.J. in this story of an end-of-his-rope alcoholic who sets up camp on his front lawn when his wife changes the locks on the same day that he loses his job. Things only get worse from there until he takes advantage of a legal loophole that allows him to host a yard sale for three days.

2. The Lego Movie

Ferrell's second animated movie features him in the dual role of legofied dictator President Business and the completely human Man Upstairs. President Business is such a twisted nutjob that Batman, Superman, Shaq and an army of heroes have to join forces to try and stop him.

1. Wedding Crashers

Though his role amounts to a glorified cameo, Ferrell's original  crasher, Chazz Reinhold, who lives with his mom and has moved on to crashing funerals in search of dates, puts the icing on an already hilarious wedding cake.