TL;DR – This is a film of two halves that actively make each side worse for being there. This film was a frustrating experience from start to finish.    

Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and a post-credit scene

Review –

There are a lot of ways movies come into being, some come from novels, some from comic books, and some are even original ideas. However, there is a new trend of finding popular content from the internet and turning it into the new hotness. Well if you are going to head in that direction then one where you can have every celebrity cameo under the sun is a good place to start.   

So to set the scene, up in North Carolina there is Flinch Public Access Television and here we find a TV show host Zach Galifianakis (Zach Galifianakis). For years he has produced the Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, an interview show that is truly horrible. Well after years of doing the show, a camera crew is here to film how the show is put together. Interviewing Producer Carol (Lauren Lapkus), Cam the cameraman (Ryan Gaul), and all the guests. However, things go wrong when a leak in the celling destroys the studio forcing him to go on the road fulfilling Will Ferrell ludicrous demands.

Okay but well I need to start this review with a long exasperated sigh. This is a difficult review to write because I get the joke, I really do, but it’s just not funny. Part of what made the show work is that roasting went both ways but because they have to blow through each of the celebrities to fit them in there is not really any of that banter. So what we get is just a stream of fat jokes, misfired racist commentary, jokes about trans people, and jokes about murder-suicides. It all falls flat and I kept hoping that it would come together and while it comes close it never gets there.

There are moments when it gets close to being interesting is when they ditch the celebrity interviews and it is just about the experiences on Zach and his crew as it all starts to fall apart. This is where the mockumentary shines for a few brief moments and I mean very brief. However, whenever the film is just starting to be interesting it has to jump back into the muck. Like when interviewing Peter Dinklage they go for the inevitable Trans joke. It honestly feels like the two parts of this movie actively sabotaged each other and that it would have been greatly improved by focusing on one or the other.           

In the end, do we recommend Between Two Ferns: The Movie? Honestly no, no we don’t. It is trying to jam two different concepts into the same film and both sides make the other worse for being there. It reaches the point where you become disappointed at the people that show up. I mean not even the parody of Late Night Talk Shows at the end saves it. I don’t know, maybe the joke is just lost on me but in the end I was not laughing, not even at the meta humour that is usually my jam. The only thing I found remotely funny was the outtakes that played in the credits, so if anything just skip through to them if you are really craving any of this.     

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Between Two Ferns: The Movie
Directed by – Scott Aukerman
Screenplay by – Scott Aukerman
Written by – Scott Aukerman & Zach Galifianakis
Based on – Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis by Scott Aukerman and B. J. Porter
Music by – Alex Wurman
Cinematography by – Benjamin Kasulke
Edited by – Brendan Walsh and Hank Friedmann
Production/Distribution Companies – Funny or Die & Netflix
Starring – Zach Galifianakis, Ryan Gaul, Lauren Lapkus, Jiavani Linayao, Paul Rust & Robert R. Shafer with Matthew McConaughey, Keanu Reeves, Will Ferrell, Chance the Rapper, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, John Cho, Jason Schwartzman, Brie Larson, David Letterman, Paul Rudd, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Jon Hamm, Hailee Steinfeld, Awkwafina, Tiffany Haddish, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tessa Thompson, Peter Dinklage & Gal Gadot.     
Rating – Around an Australia: MA15+