(Photo by WB/Courtesy Everett Collection)
We’re ranking all the movies starring Will Ferrell by Tomatometer, including his comedy classics (The Other Guys, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory), audience favorites (Step Brothers, Elf), and the sad sensitive guy stuff (Stranger Than Fiction, Everything Must Go).
#1
Adjusted Score: 108307%
Critics Consensus: Boasting beautiful animation, a charming voice cast, laugh-a-minute gags, and a surprisingly thoughtful story, The Lego Movie is colorful fun for all ages.
#2
Adjusted Score: 117199%
Critics Consensus: Barbie is a visually dazzling comedy whose meta humor is smartly complemented by subversive storytelling.
#3
Adjusted Score: 93046%
Critics Consensus: A movie full of Yuletide cheer, Elf is a spirited, good-natured family comedy, and it benefits greatly from Will Ferrell’s funny and charming performance as one of Santa’s biggest helpers.
#4
Adjusted Score: 99813%
Critics Consensus: While it isn’t quite as much fun as its predecessor, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part fits neatly into an animated all-ages franchise with heart and humor to spare.
#5
Adjusted Score: 87375%
Critics Consensus: A clever parody of cop-buddy action-comedies, The Other Guys delivers several impressive action set pieces and lots of big laughs, thanks to the assured comic chemistry between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.
#6
Adjusted Score: 83205%
Critics Consensus: It’s just as uneven and loosely structured as the first Anchorman — and while Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues may not be quite as quotable, it’s nearly as funny as its predecessor.
#7
Adjusted Score: 80106%
Critics Consensus: A fun, whimsical tale about an office drone trying to save his life from his narrator, Stranger Than Fiction features a subdued performances from Will Ferrell that contributes mightily to its quirky, mind-bending affect.
#8
Adjusted Score: 78056%
Critics Consensus: It may not improve on the Raymond Carver short story that inspired it, but Everything Must Go resists cliche and boasts a pair of magnetic performances from the perfectly cast Ferrell and Wallace.
#9
Adjusted Score: 78564%
Critics Consensus: Though it occasionally stalls, Talladega Nights’ mix of satire, clever gags, and excellent ensemble performances put it squarely in the winner’s circle.
#10
Adjusted Score: 80164%
Critics Consensus: It regurgitates plot points from earlier animated efforts, and isn’t quite as funny as it should be, but a top-shelf voice cast and strong visuals help make Megamind a pleasant, if unspectacular, diversion.
#11
Adjusted Score: 75240%
Critics Consensus: A clever, funny slice of alternate history, Dick farcically re-imagines the Watergate era and largely succeeds, thanks to quirky, winning performances from Michelle Williams, Kirsten Dunst and Will Ferrell.
#12
Adjusted Score: 77363%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to the spirited performances of a talented cast – particularly Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as rivals-turned-teammates — Blades of Glory successfully spoofs inspirational sports dramas with inspired abandon.
#13
Adjusted Score: 73946%
Critics Consensus: Curious George is a bright, sweet, faithful adaptation of the beloved children’s books.
#14
Adjusted Score: 75919%
Critics Consensus: Although it adds little to the long tradition of Dickens adaptations, Spirited is so genially overstuffed that it’s easy to at least intermittently enjoy.
#15
Adjusted Score: 75727%
Critics Consensus: Its crude brand of political satire isn’t quite as smart or sharp as one might hope in an election year, but The Campaign manages to generate a sufficient number of laughs thanks to its well-matched leads.
#16
Adjusted Score: 72649%
Critics Consensus: Filled with inspired silliness and quotable lines, Anchorman isn’t the most consistent comedy in the world, but Will Ferrell’s buffoonish central performance helps keep this portrait of a clueless newsman from going off the rails.
#17
Adjusted Score: 69857%
Critics Consensus: A wacky satire on the fashion industry, Zoolander is one of those deliberately dumb comedies that can deliver genuine laughs.
#18
Adjusted Score: 74164%
Critics Consensus: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga contains inspired ingredients and laugh-out-loud moments, but they’re outnumbered by the flat stretches in this overlong comedy.
#19
Adjusted Score: 65652%
Critics Consensus: While not consistently funny, the movie does have its moments.
#20
Adjusted Score: 63230%
Critics Consensus: Step Brothers indulges in a cheerfully relentless immaturity that will quickly turn off viewers unamused by Ferrell and Reilly — and delight those who find their antics hilarious.
#21
Adjusted Score: 64864%
Critics Consensus: Fast paced and teeming with slapstick gags, Despicable Me 4 is as overstuffed as a piñata but full of enough candy to give audiences an enjoyable sugar rush.
#22
Adjusted Score: 62530%
Critics Consensus: Crudely effective and effectively crude, Strays is more amusing than hilarious, but this comedy’s scattershot humor is partly offset by its surprisingly big heart.
#23
Adjusted Score: 55945%
Critics Consensus: Woody Allen’s uneven Melinda and Melinda fails to find neither comedy nor pathos in what seems like a rehash of his previous themes.
#24
Adjusted Score: 56533%
Critics Consensus: Despite the rich source material, The Producers has a stale, stagy feel more suited to the theater than the big screen.
#25
Adjusted Score: 46879%
Critics Consensus: Thinly written and not as funny as it needs to be, Casa de mi Padre would have worked better as a fake trailer or short film; stretched to feature length, it wears out its welcome far too quickly.
#26
Adjusted Score: 45985%
Critics Consensus: The script is mediocre and fails to give Ferrell a proper comedic showcase.
#27
Adjusted Score: 41192%
Critics Consensus: This dour coming-of-age story has nothing to distinguish it from similarly themed indie fare.
#28
Adjusted Score: 40770%
Critics Consensus: The Wendell Baker Story is a lackadaisical comedy of quirky characters and situations, but ultimately the lazy narrative bores instead of charms.
#29
Adjusted Score: 48184%
Critics Consensus: Fittingly named for a remake whose charms are dwarfed by its superior source material, Downhill is frequently — and frustratingly — less than the sum of its talented parts.
#30
Adjusted Score: 35240%
Critics Consensus: Dumb script and flat jokes made this another SNL misfire.
#31
Adjusted Score: 35533%
Critics Consensus: Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg have proven comedic chemistry, but Daddy’s Home suffers from a dearth of genuinely funny ideas – and lacks enough guts or imagination to explore the satirical possibilities of its premise.
#32
Adjusted Score: 31588%
Critics Consensus: A whodunnit that stacks its lists of suspects with wasted character actors, Drowning Mona is a twee farce that will prompt audiences to tune out before the mystery is solved.
#33
Adjusted Score: 36669%
Critics Consensus: A waste of two fine funnymen, Get Hard settles for tired and offensive gags instead of tapping into its premise’s boundary-pushing potential.
#34
Adjusted Score: 33599%
Critics Consensus: Only loosely based on the original TV series, Land of the Lost is decidedly less kid-friendly and feels more like a series of inconsistent sketches than a cohesive adventure comedy.
#35
Adjusted Score: 30882%
Critics Consensus: Bewitched is haunted by scattered laughs and a lack of direction.
#36
Adjusted Score: 29294%
Critics Consensus: Semi-Pro is an intermittently funny, half-hearted attempt at sports satire, and one of Will Ferrell’s weaker cinematic efforts.
#37
Adjusted Score: 32935%
Critics Consensus: Zoolander No. 2 has more celebrity cameos than laughs — and its meager handful of memorable gags outnumbers the few worthwhile ideas discernible in its scattershot rehash of a script.
#38
Adjusted Score: 27554%
Critics Consensus: A formulaic comedy that’s unlikely to spread much yuletide merriment, Daddy’s Home 2 can only muster a few stray yuks from its talented cast.
#39
Adjusted Score: 23743%
Critics Consensus: The House squanders a decent premise and a talented cast on thin characterizations and a shortage of comic momentum.
#40
Adjusted Score: 5122%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#41
Adjusted Score: 13312%
Critics Consensus: The Ladies Man joins the growing list of mediocre movies based on SNL skits. It just doesn’t have enough material to last the length of the movie.
#42
Adjusted Score: 13746%
Critics Consensus: The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson than does Holmes and Watson.
#43
Adjusted Score: 13850%
Critics Consensus: Has the same problems as the worst SNL movies: one-note characters and plots unreasonably stretched to feature length runtime.
#44
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.