Between Two Ferns: The Movie
Between Two Ferns: The Movie is a 2019 American comedy film directed by Scott Aukerman and starring Zach Galifianakis that acts as a spin-off of the web series of the same name. The film was released on September 20, 2019, on Netflix.[1][2]
| Between Two Ferns: The Movie | |
|---|---|
 Film release poster | |
| Directed by | Scott Aukerman |
| Produced by | Caitlin Daley Mike Farah Scott Aukerman Zach Galifianakis |
| Screenplay by | Scott Aukerman |
| Story by | Zach Galifianakis Scott Aukerman |
| Based on | |
| Starring | Zach Galifianakis Lauren Lapkus Ryan Gaul Jiavani Linayao |
| Music by | Alex Wurman |
| Cinematography | Benjamin Kasulke |
| Edited by | Brendan Walsh Hank Friedmann |
Production company | Funny or Die Billios Productions |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Premise
Zach Galifianakis "dreamed of becoming a star". But when Will Ferrell discovered his public access TV show Between Two Ferns and uploaded it to Funny Or Die, Zach became a viral laughingstock. Now Zach and his crew are taking a road trip to complete a series of high-profile celebrity interviews and restore his reputation.[1]
Cast
- Zach Galifianakis as Himself
- Lauren Lapkus as Carol Hunch
- Ryan Gaul as Cameron "Cam" Campbell
- Jiavani Linayao as "Boom Boom" De Laurentis
- Edi Patterson as Shirl Clarts
- Rekha Shankar as Gaya
- Mary Scheer as Frannie Scheindlin
- Mary Holland as Gerri Plop
- Matt Besser as Mike Burcho
- Phil Hendrie as Bill Yum
- Paul Rust as Eugene Tennyson
- A. D. Miles as Michael
- Blake Clark as Earl Canderton
- Paul F. Tompkins as Burnt Millipede
- Demi Adejuyigbe as DJ Fwap
- Mandell Maughan as Nic Jeffries
As themselves
- Awkwafina
- Chance the Rapper
- John Cho
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Peter Dinklage
- Will Ferrell
- Gal Gadot
- Tiffany Haddish
- Jon Hamm
- Rashida Jones
- Brie Larson
- John Legend
- David Letterman
- Matthew McConaughey
- Keanu Reeves
- Paul Rudd
- Jason Schwartzman
- Adam Scott
- Hailee Steinfeld
- Chrissy Teigen
- Tessa Thompson
- Phoebe Bridgers
- Matt Berninger
- Walter Martin
- Bruce Willis
Production
On May 23, 2019, Funny or Die announced that it would make a film version of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis for Netflix. The film was directed by Scott Aukerman, the co-creator of the original series, and produced by Aukerman, Galifianakis, Caitlin Daley and Mike Farah.[1][2] On June 17, 2019, it was reported that Ryan Gaul, Lauren Lapkus, and Jiavani Linayao were part of the cast alongside Galifianakis.[3]
Several ideas for Between Two Ferns: The Movie that Galifianakis came up with and subsequently discarded early in development were used on his show Baskets.[4]
Aukerman cited several other mockumentary films as inspiration, including This Is Spinal Tap, Borat, and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.[4]
Release
On September 3, 2019, the first trailer for the movie was released.[5]
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 58 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.55/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Between Two Ferns: The Movie shows the strain of stretching a series of web shorts to feature length, but should still satisfy fans of the source material."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]
Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars, saying that "takes what's made the series so extremely funny and lovingly expands it into a feature film, in a way that would make all those ‘90s Saturday Night Live movies envious."[8] Writing for The A.V. Club, William Hughes gave the film a B, praising its humor but with the slightly muted criticism that "some of the original, exciting venom of the show’s appeal ends up a bit diluted along the way".[9]
Accolades
Scott Aukerman, Zach Galifianakis, Mike Farah, Caitlin Daley and Corinne Eckart were nominated for a 2020 Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Short Form Variety Series for work on this movie.[10]
References
- Haring, Bruce (May 24, 2019). "'Between Two Ferns: The Movie' With Zach Galifianakis Confirmed, Sets Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- Lincoln, Ross A. (May 23, 2019). "Zach Galifianakis to Bring 'Between Two Ferns: The Movie' to Netflix in September". TheWrap. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 17, 2019). "Netflix Plants Ryan Gaul, Lauren Lapkus, And Jiavani Linayao For 'Between Two Ferns'". Deadline. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
- Comedy Bang! Bang! episode 619, The Stars of Between Two Ferns: The Movie
- Kim, Michelle (September 3, 2019). "Watch the New Trailer for Zach Galifianakis' Between Two Ferns: The Movie". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- "Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- "Between Two Ferns: The Movie Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- Allen, Nick. "Between Two Ferns: The Movie movie review (2019) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- Hughes, William (September 20, 2019). "The Between Two Ferns Movie Is Funny, But a Little Defanged". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- "Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: The Movie, Sorta Uncut Interviews". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 28, 2020.