Hump Up the Jams

One of the outstanding comedic actors of the current generation is Will Ferrell. Without a doubt, he can go pound for pound with the best funny men on the planet. In two weeks, his new movie, Semi Pro, will be released. In it, Ferrell plays an ABA basketball star who is forced to step up his game both on and off the court in order to save his franchise and his career.

This is not Ferrell’s first jump into the pool of sports acting. In fact, almost half of his major roles have been in sports films (or movies involving Will showing off his athletic prowess). Add that to his many sports roles on Saturday Night Live, and he has built quite the catalog of sports acting.

What is it that draws him to these roles? Is it his taller than average height, his lankiness, or his over coordination and skills? Whatever it is, he keeps cranking out the sports movies. Some have been good, some great, and some downright awful. And now I submit to you, the top five Will Ferrell Sports Acting Performances.

5. Kicking and Screaming (2005): The premise is simple - Will plays a youth soccer coach trying to prove to his Dad that he is a winner in every sense of the word. As a sports bonus, Ferrell’s assistant coach in the movie is Mike Ditka, playing himself (a real stretch of his acting range). However, putting Will with kids in a PG-rated setting usually leads to a few cute laughs, but nothing that will have you falling out of your chair.

4. Blades of Glory (2007): A story as old as storytelling itself. Obnoxious figure skater gets into fight with rival and both are banned from individual competition for life. Skaters then discover they can compete in doubles competition, becoming the first all-male pair. The two overcome the odds (and incestuous rivals played by Will Arnett and Amy Poehler). Blades evokes a few scattered laughs here and there, but overall stupidity wears off after the first ten minutes. Too many dumb story details and not enough strange improvisation by Ferrell.

3. Talladega Nights (2006): Plenty of great scenes in this NASCAR spoof, with a lot of jokes at the expense of the car racing community and their fans. Ferrell thrives in the long, drawn out scenes where he rapidly repeats similar lines (see: dinner scene and driving the car with a cougar). Also, Will is an expert making the agony of a complete downward spiral in a man’s life look unbelievably hilarious (see: Anchorman). The film also produced some great catchphrases, including the ambiguous “Shake and Bake,” and of course, “If you’re not first, you’re last.”

2. SNL’s Harry Caray: What began as a parody of the longtime Cubs announcer took a turn towards the insane as Ferrell made the character his own. He portrayed Caray as an old man who had no idea what was going on, interviewed people but never listened to their answers to questions, and mused on large philosophical ideas such as, “If you were a hot dog, would you eat yourself?” Will even did the character after Caray passed away, and it was still hilarious every time. (Honorable mention for other sports SNL characters, including John Rocker, Jesse Ventura, and of course, Craig, the Spartans Cheerleader)

1. Old School (2003): This film might have used Ferrell in the absolute best way. He plays a supporting role to Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson, and doesn’t have an abundance of lines. Instead, he is the exclamation point on most scenes, reverting back to his old college ways of “Frank the Tank” and involving himself in a martial arts battle with Andy Dick. At the end of the movie, as the fraternity is attempting to become certified, and after several jokes involving drinking, drugs, profanity, nudity, and women have already been made, Ferrell returns to his bread and butter: physical comedy. I defy anyone to watch his ribbon dance in the gymnastics portion of the test without laughing. The seriousness of his face and the grace and bounce in his movement is almost criminal it is so funny.