For the most part, I am a pretty big fan of Will Ferell and even think that he could be a pretty great serious actor if he wanted to. The closest attempt at that which I have seen is a movie called Stranger than Fiction which I found Ferell's character, who had almost no comedic moments, to be pretty great and he kinda nailed the role.
There is a reason why the man doesn't really focus on non-comedic roles though and that is because they don't make money. This is true with a number of other comedy stars most notibly Adam Sandler, whose best work has been in non-comedy roles and all of those films have either lost money, or made so little that it is easy to understand why he doesn't often pursue such roles.
Will's comedies make tons of money for the most part and this is why he commands such a massive price tag to be involved in them. If you want Will to be in your movie you better be prepared to shell out 10-20 million dollars or you can go ahead and forget about it. In one particular movie, Will was paid an estimated $15 million for his role and the movie flat out sucked IMO.
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This is a film about a couple that wants to sent their money to a very expensive private college but then realizes that they don't have anywhere near the amount of money necesssary to do so. They figure out by accident one day that they can make a ton of money by running a casino inside of their own home.
Does it sound stupid and impractical yet? Well it would be because there is no way that something like this would be able to be kept secret and I'm not saying that I need my films to be plausible for me to enjoy them (fantasy and sci-fi are 2 of my favorite styles of films) but absurdity isn't something I generally go for.
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They end up needing to strong-arm people that don't pay them on time and I guess there are a few laughs in there but for the most part this movie is just stupid and not in "Anchorman was also stupid" type way either.
Should I watch it?
In case it hasn't been evident from what I have alrady written above this film is not good. The best moments and the only ones that are likely to make you laugh are already in the trailer above. This movie is a waste of time and is also one of the lowest rated movies that Will has done ever. It is also one of the few that lost a bunch of money.
It is currently available on Netflix in most regions but seriously.... don't waste your time. Will Ferrell is considered one of the most "risky" stars for studios to put in their films because he commands a massive paycheck yet after advertising expenses, very few of his films actually turn the sort of profits that the studios hope for. I don't know how much longer he can keep this up, but with a net worth of an estimated $160 million, I would imagine we don't need to get the gofundme started for him just yet.
