Sayak Basu
‘Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis‘ is a talk show which has become quite popular in recent years. In this show, actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis interviews several Hollywood celebrities sitting between two potted ferns. The series is intentionally made to look like an extremely low-budget TV production. However, this is no normal interview where Galifianakis has a regular conversation with his guests. Here, Galifiankis constantly maintains a straight face while asking his guests offensive questions. Netflix, the streaming platform which is always able to spot the potential in a product, joined hands with comedy video website Funny or Die to make a film based on this show.
In the film, most of the guest actors go by their own names. It starts off with Will Ferrell noticing potential in the show’s format when it first began airing on public access TV. Taking a special interest, Ferrell promotes the series to the website Funny Or Die. This gives Zach an opportunity to interview some Hollywood A-listers, and for that, he goes on a road trip across the country. Celebrities to feature on his show are Gal Godot, Matthew McConaughey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Dinklage, Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves, and others. The film is quite entertaining to watch. However, it must be admitted that in trying to be palatable for a larger film audience, the interviews somehow lose the edge which made them famous in the first place. If you enjoyed watching this film and are looking for more such movies, then you have arrived at the right place. Here’s the list of best movies similar to ‘Between Two Ferns’ that are our recommendations. You can watch several of these movies like ‘Between Two Ferns’ on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime.
7. The Beverly Hillbillies (1993)
Based on a famous sitcom of the same name, ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ is a film which centers around a poor farming family, the Clampetts, which has suddenly come to possess an enormous amount of money. This happens when an oil company discovers a massive reserve of oil under the place where they live and offers them a huge amount of money to move away. Having become millionaires, they now move to a mansion at Beverly Hills. However, their upper-class neighbors aren’t very happy with the fact that this family of hillbillies are living in their area. The comedy of errors which follow between the Clampetts and their neighbors becomes the driving force of the film.
While the series on which it is based was loved by both audiences and critics, this film did not manage to procure the same amount of admiration. The reason behind this is probably that the film never manages to develop upon the material in the series and sticks to not only a similar type of humor, but also a similar storyline that viewers have already seen.
6. Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014)
Another film based on a web series, ‘Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie’ follows the eponymous nerd who is wildly famous for reviewing some retro video games which are extremely bad, with poor graphics, improper challenges at numerous levels, and are even designed horribly. The film sees him dealing with the game which is widely known as the worst video game in history – the 1982 Atari 2600 video game E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The Nerd, as the leading character is popularly known, had never reviewed this game on his show before. But now he simply has to overcome his fear of this game, as it turns out that this is the only way The Nerd can save his fans. Notably, the film was made entirely on a crowd sourced budget of $325,500. The best part about the film is that it remains close to the web series on which it is based. Though the plot is not that well-developed, the film has enough charm to keep you engaged throughout its running time.
5. Fred: The Movie (2010)
This 2010 television film centers around the character of Fred Figglehorn, created by famous American YouTuber Lucas Cruikshank for his channel. The act became so popular that Nickelodeon became eager to make a movie with the character. Fred is a 15-year-old boy who is hyper and rather socially awkward. He is completely in love with his next-door neighbor Judy. However, the local bully always intimidates Fred and warns him against going up to Judy and telling her about his feelings. It is only after Judy moves out of her home that Frank decides he should confront her. His journey to find Judy forms the central narrative of the film. ‘Fred: The Movie’ is simply not that good. The story is unconvincing and so are the performances of some of the actors. Be that as it may, the film was quite popular among audiences when it first came out.
4. Smosh: The Movie (2015)
‘Smosh’ is actually the super popular YouTube comedy duo comprising of Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. The duo got famous by producing short comedic sketch videos every week, and their popularity prompted them to make a full-length film. The movie tells the duo’s story as they try to alter a YouTube video to save Anthony from getting embarrassed in front of the girl he loves. The performances by Padilla and Hecox are undoubtedly the highlight of the film. However, other cast members are not that great in their roles, and the story too is rather weak.
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3. David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)
When Ricky Gervais first created ‘The Office‘ way back in 2001, it became one of the best comedy shows of all time. The series opened up a whole new branch of sitcoms based around one’s workplace. In 2016, when fans came to know that Gervais is coming back with his character David Brent, the excitement soared through the roof. The film carries on the mockumentary format which we can see in the original series as well. The story of the film follows Brent, who is now a traveling salesman. He wants to start a rock band, and takes out all of his savings and hires musicians to accompany him. However, his life is riddled with failures once again. Gervais remains true to the spirit of the series, but the story is not convincing enough to keep the viewers engaged.
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2. Ali G Indahouse (2002)
Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the bravest comedians out there. He can pull up tricks from his sleeve that others would not even think of. During the course of his career, Cohen has created comedic characters that he plays not only in films and TV shows, but also in real life at times. One of these characters is the very famous Ali G. After gaining popularity with the character on the TV show ‘Da Ali G Show’, Cohen reprised the character in this film. The story of ‘Ali G Indahouse’ follows the lead character as he unknowingly becomes a part of an evil plan to overthrow the British Prime Minister. The film failed to replicate the success of the TV series and was mostly shunned by the public. But there are some brilliant comedic moments in the film which reflect the genius of Cohen.
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1. Bean (1997)
Mr. Bean is a television icon. There is hardly any other comedic character on TV who is as popular as this character created by the genius we call Rowan Atkinson. This film follows the exploits of Mr. Bean during the time when he worked as a security guard at the Royal National Gallery in London. It so happens that Bean is charged with shipping a rather expensive painting to Los Angeles all by himself. It is during this journey that the naive but well-meaning Mr. Bean falls into all sorts of predicaments that drive the narrative of the film forward. It is Atkinson’s performance which steals the show again. The man is simply brilliant in portraying the character with almost no dialogue. However, the slapstick nature of the comedy which Mr. Bean is associated with does not really play well in a movie as it does in a half-hour TV episode.
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