Will Ferrell is a brilliant scene stealer in dozens of films, but, for the sake of this list, it was necessary to narrow it down to the films where he is the leading man (But he will always be Mugatu in ‘Zoolander’ to me first.).
5. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
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“If you ain’t first, you’re last.” Apologies to Ricky Bobby, but this film being fifth would be last in his eyes. His run as a successful, then broken, then redeemed NASCAR driver is a typical sports movie storyline. However, it is so packed with jokes and a stacked ensemble that you don’t even mind seeing the pattern again.
4. Stranger Than Fiction
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Never underestimate a comic actor’s dramatic side. Will Ferrell’s Harold Crick is a loveable IRS agent who contends with an author narrating his every move. He handles these bizarre circumstances with grace and humor, without ever crossing over into being silly.
3. Step Brothers
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From the drum set to the Catalina Wine Mixer, Ferrell’s Brennan and John C. Reilly’s Dale have a chemistry that is unmatched. These newly joined stepbrothers are pushing forty and behave like they are decades younger, but they do so in a way that make us believe that both ages can exist simultaneously. Yes, this movie has two leading men, but it is Brennan’s secret talent for singing that puts him over the edge. Boats and hoes.
2. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
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As San Diego’s best anchorman who will read a teleprompter regardless of what it says, Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy carries one of the best comedy films of all time. With a brilliantly clueless news team to support him and endless quotable jokes, it’s hard to think of a movie as iconic as this. Except…
1. Elf
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If you’re a network executive in 1990 looking to build out a slate of Saturday morning cartoons, obviously the first phone call you make when looking for material to adapt is to Lloyd Kaufman and the minds at Troma, an independent film production company specializing in gross-out B-movie horror films.
