Actor Will Ferrell has appeared in 55 feature films since 1997. Some of these are classic comedies where Ferrell’s broad comedy excels. Others are not. Duds are an inevitability when combining Ferrell’s prolific output with the type of comedy he honed on Saturday Night Live and Ferrell has more than his fair share. Sometimes he’s terribly miscast, the script isn’t right or a dramatic pivot just doesn’t work. The sheer number of films based on SNL skits in his filmography does not help his ratio of hits and misses.
The Tomatometer can be a cruel arbiter of culture and it hasn’t spared Ferrell by any means. Here are the 10 films Rotten Tomatoes deems to be his worst.
Zeroville - 23%
Ferrell makes an uncredited cameo in this long-gestating adaptation of Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel. The film stars James Franco as a man with a tattoo of a scene from A Place in the Sun on his head as he navigates 1970s Los Angeles.
The film spent years in development hell; the film was announced in 2011 but didn’t shoot until 2014. The film released in 2019 after the film’s first distributor filed for bankruptcy. Judging by the critical reaction, maybe this one should’ve stayed in the vault.
Semi-Pro - 22%
Ferrell tried to recapture the magic of Blades of Glory with this 2008 comedy about a semi-pro basketball team. He plays Jackie Moon, a singer who buys a failing American Basketball Association team just before the merger with the NBA.
Moon concocts several schemes to turn the Tropics into a viable candidate to be absorbed into the NBA, but quickly proves to be way in over his head. Lightning couldn’t strike twice for Ferrell and he hasn’t made a sports comedy since Semi-Pro’s release in 2008.
Zoolander 2 - 22%
This 2016 sequel to the 2001 comedy doesn’t hold a candle to the original. Ferrell returns as fashion mogul Jacobim Mugatu alongside Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz and a host of celebrity cameos.
Critics blasted the film for having more cameos than funny jokes and a nonsensical plot that many considered to be a retread of the first film. Audiences didn’t flock to Zoolander 2 either; it barely made back its $56 million budget and there are (thankfully) no plans for a third installment in the franchise.
Daddy’s Home 2 - 21%
Will Ferrell followed up his highest-grossing live-action film by taking things up another level on the family tree. This Christmas-set sequel adds John Lithgow and Mel Gibson as the fathers of Ferrell and costar Mark Wahlbergs’ characters and John Cena as the biological father of another character.
While the chemistry between Ferrell and Wahlberg occasionally shines through, adding Lithgow and Gibson does little to improve on a stale formula. The pair aren’t a good fit alongside Ferrell, Wahlberg and Cena. The film’s jokes are so obvious they’re groan-worthy and lack the cleverness found in Ferrell and Wahlberg’s earlier collaboration The Other Guys.
A Deadly Adoption - 20%
Ferrell executive produced and starred in this 2015 Lifetime movie about a couple whose plan to adopt a child goes wrong when the mother of the child is revealed to be a murderer. The film’s existence is the joke: it parodies the “Lifetime movie” genre and aired on the 25th anniversary of the first Lifetime movie.
However, many critics didn’t find the joke funny and questioned the point of the film. The dramatic thrust of the film caught some critics off guard, but A Deadly Adoption is too earnest for a send up to the joke.
The House - 20%
Amy Poehler joined Ferrell in this 2017 comedy about a couple who open an illegal casino to put their daughter through college. It’s an interesting concept, but The House does little with it. The film wastes a talented cast that includes Nick Kroll and Jeremy Renner.
Its script is devoid of jokes and unsure of what to do with its premise. Critics and audiences alike stayed away from the film; audiences gave the film a B- Cinemascore and The House made $34 million against its $40 million production budget.
A Night at the Roxbury - 11%
Very few films based on SNL skits are good. A Night at the Roxbury is no exception. Ferrell stars alongside Chris Kattan as one half of “The Roxbury Guys.” The duo spends the film attempting to get into the titular Los Angeles nightclub.
After failing to get in, they hit upon the idea of opening a nightclub themselves. They enlist the help of the Roxbury’s owner to open the club and convince two women to sleep with them after years of getting rejected by various women.
The Ladies Man - 11%
The Ladies Man is yet another terrible film based on an SNL skit. Ferrell appears as supporting character Lance DeLune. Tim Meadows stars as radio host Leon Phelps, who seeks to reunite with one of his former flames while avoiding the husbands and boyfriends of the women who cheated with Leon.
Like most of the movies based on SNL skits, The Ladies Man is based on a character who doesn’t have enough material to support a film on his own. The movie relies on too much lousy formula and unfunny jokes to get itself through a very short 84 minutes.
Holmes and Watson - 11%
Holmes and Watson was the first non-Anchorman collaboration between Ferrell and John C. Reilly since 2008’s Step Brothers. Holmes and Watson doesn’t come close to recapturing the magic and chemistry they had in that film.
Critics lambasted the film for its dated and unfunny script and its waste of immense talent. Audiences took heed of critics’ warnings; the film made $41 million on a $42 million budget despite its recognizable IP and a Christmas release date.
The Suburbans - 0%
If you’ve never seen this movie, it’s probably for the best. The Suburbans is one of a small handful of films with the not-so-coveted 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The parody focuses on a 1980s one-hit-wonder band that reunites at the behest of a record executive. After its premiere at Sundance in 1999, the film showed in 11 theaters nationwide before being pulled. It grossed $11, 130. The kicker to all of this is that Ferrell played the band’s bass player. Ouch.
