Given that his tenure on NBC's flagship comedy franchise stretched for more than seven years, you might be forgiven for thinking that an SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell would run for days, across disc after disc. Rather, this no-frills re-release is a single disc, running a mere two and a bit hours, and while it does contain the odd classic skit ("More cowbell!"), the overall impression is more one of 'SNL: A Lot of Will Ferrell.'
A gifted and giving comedic performer - a man seemingly devoid of ego, who is quite happy to act like a right spanner for our enjoyment without ever fretting over image - Ferrell is without a doubt one of the bright stars of the SNL canon. What this disc does bring to light is something that's sadly long since been lost - his sense of subtlety. Having almost single-handedly developed the petulant egotist/screaming man-child persona, and then driven it headfirst into the ground via a now blurring montage of inept buffoons, what's in evidence here is the man's patience; fully prepared to skate the fringes of a gag or a routine and see what develops. While not entirely unfunny, Ferrell's big screen roles have become so one-note they might as well be, well, a cowbell.
Also on display is Ferrell's wonderful gift for mimicry, and while James Lipton gets lots of love - his many orgasmic spouts of pretentious drivel were a Ferrell staple - what is sadly missing is some extended George W. Bush, arguably Ferrell's finest character. Ferrell has the man down cold; the constant nodding of the head, the waddle, the opened armed hunch forward that is somewhere between John Wayne and a guy who has just shit himself, the hand waving punctuation that accompanies everything he says. Glimpsed here only briefly - and sitting down so we don't get the best of it - W. is everything that is great about Ferrell's brand of comedy; a man who so desperately wants to be something he’s not and whose ego constantly inflates itself only to have the pathetic reality of the situation at hand puncture it time after time.
There is some gold here (Roxbury remains unrecognized genius), but it's packed in by some truly average material that makes the overall package seem somewhat arbitrary. For every 'Dissing Your Dog' there is the misjudged 'Cheerleaders'; for every 'Actor's Studio,' a lackluster 'Jeopardy' skit. And some skits are blatantly only here to satisfy the cameo quota - the likes of Alec Baldwin, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Garth Brooks - whether the sketches they're in hit the mark or not. Oh, and the total runtime on the disc includes all of the extra features. For hardcore Ferrell fans only.
DVD Bonus Features
An old Ferrell audition tape, a pair of dress rehearsal sketches (which were cut), a few outtakes, a smattering of TV appearances, and a handful of additional sketches.
"Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell" is on sale July 13, 2010 and is not rated. Television. Starring Alec Baldwin, Amy Poehler, Jim Carrey, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Will Ferrell.
