Will Ferrell = Chevy Chase?

Ferrell is the best comedian working right now.

I don't understand the appeal of Will Ferrel. The only thing he was in that I ever thought funny in was celebrity Jeopardy, and he was the straight man there.

Will Ferrell isn't close to Chevy Chase in movie roles. Nothing Ferrell has done was as funny as Fletch, Caddyshack, Funny Farm Spies Like Us or The 2 good Vacation movies.

While I haven't seen Elf I have seen Old School and Anchorman and while he was good in Old School, he sucked in Anchorman. It was a SNL type skit that would work in a 5 minute sketch but as a film is repetitive and boring.

I thought Ferrell was great on SNL but his movies need alot of work. He needs to stay as a sidekick and not the lead because he's just not as funny when he's carrying the movie.

I can see a "Spies Like Us" remake with Will Ferrell playing the Chevy Chase role and Artie Lang playing the Dan Ackroyd (sp) role.

I think that both Ferrell and Vince Vaughn channel the ghost of Chevy past. Don't know why.

I think Ferrell is much more talented than Chase being that he writes a lot of his own stuff, which will also help him keep his career going. Chase had to rely on people writing the perfect part for him, which they could do in the 80's, but once they ran out of ways to get his smart-alek routine on camera, he was done for.

Not to mention, Ferrel just has a lot more range.

Chevy Chase plays Chevy Chase, no matter what character he is.

Ferrell actually creates characters.

That's the biggest difference between them, in my opinion.

Also, though I do enjoy Fletch on occasion, I don't like many of Chase's films. I've enjoyed Ferrell three for three now (Old School, Elf, Anchorman).

Though Bewitched looks like it might break his winning streak with me.

I can see the comparisons, and I think it makes sense. Farrell and Chevy Chase are both funny and succesful almost entirely because of their ability to have hilarious and quirky ways of speaking and delivering lines. Neither is a great impersonator, and I can't imagine either would be that great at stand-up, but their mannerisms are just so funny.

Chase wrote a TON of stuff for SNL though. In fact, he was hired as a writer before he was hired as a performer. He just knew what his limitations were as a performer and didn't try to put himself in roles just because he wrote the sketch.

I made this comparison in my head a few weeks back, but not because of Chase's and Ferrell's similar styles. I made the comparison after seeing the trailer for Kicking and Screaming. Ferrell's kids' soccer coach flick coming out whenever. It looked like crap; something Ferrell spent a weekend shooting. And I thought, will Ferrell start making useless crap like Chevy started to do? Man of the House, Cops and Robbersons.


Just TWO? Which one of the first 3 wasn't good? I would like to know.

Yeah, but he can't perform his own material, and Ferrell can. It's a lot easier to keep a career running when you can write parts for yourself.

I'm sure Chase is a very funny guy (or at least was a very funny guy), he's just not a very good performer.

Not a fan of European Vacation. It had a couple moments but the kids were horrible.

Anchorman is way funnier than Funny Farm and Spies Like Us.

There is no conneciton. The joke with Chase's Gerald Ford was that he wasn't attempting an impersonation.

Well, he's already made crap like OLD SCHOOL.

Re: Spies Like Us remake

Artie Lang in the Dan Ackroyd role?? Except for being fat white guys, they're nothing alike. Akroyd had his awesome and unique 1950s deadpan scientist-nerd type character, while Lang has never played anything but a sub-Belushi big fat loudmouth. Fred Armisen from SNL is the only SNL player I can think of who might create a good nerd match to Ferrell's confident jerk character.

Yeah but what about Fletch and the National Lampoon Vacation movies?

The First "National Lampoon Vacation" and "Christmas V acation" were funny, "European Vacation" was shitty and the fourth Vegas one was so bad I could not finish watching it.
It will be interesting to see how Ferrell does as Franz The Nazi Playwright in the upcoming film of the musical version of "The Producers".

Actually im kinda looking forward to Bewitched, am I going to hell?

I dont think your alone in this theory as a freind of mine made exactly the same comparisson the other day.

I must respectfully disagree.

speaking of chevy, dont you think the only possible person that could cast in fletch won to replace him would be ryan reynolds?

No, Ryan Reynolds.

Frankly I have trouble envisioning anyone else in the role of Fletch. Of all the movies he's done, that's the one that stands out to me as being a movie that Chevy Chase MADE. CaddyShack was an ensemble, and the first two vacation movies were good, but it was more about the crazy events. Fletch was made by Chase's acting and persona.

but have you seen the ad for Kicking and Screaming?



and I compare Chase and Ferrel's respective presidential impersonations.
-the main gag behind chase's ford was him falling down

-will ferrell was Solid Gold as Dubya. Anyone remember him doing lines from his book on weekend update




Jason Lee doesn't count cause he's not a comedian, he's a pro-skateboarder turned actor


and I have to see Ryan Reynolds in something without the words "national lampoon" or "wesley snipes" attached to it, before I can decide how funny he is

I can see the similarities, but Ferrell is healthy, running and still doing funny movies. Chevy ruined his movie career, abused drugs and became a jerk. Don't get me wrong, i think chevy is hilarious, but as people...ferrell is much better.

Liked Ferrell, like all his movies.. Saw Anchorman for the second time the other day, laughed my fuckin ass off, all because of Ferrell..I dont care if he's channeling Robert Guelae (sorry for that spelling its late)..he still just about makes that fuckin movie, and even manages to pull it over a few rough jokes..

yeah....he really did make anchorman...and while I'm a big Jon Favreau fan, Ferrell was the only way i could've possibly tolerated Elf. Had he not been there, i would've lost it and walked out.

here's another guy with no memory of the past. there was a period in the late 70s/ early 80s where chevy was the man. you write like you aren't even aware that chevy was on the original season of SNL, wrote his own stuff, INVENTED a lot of the format that spawned Ferrell and dominated the show like no one has ever done, with the exception of Lorne Michaels in later years

when he was on the show he was so dominant and such the focal point that guys like BELUSHI couldn't get airtime. in fact there was debate on whether it was chase or SNL itself that was the reason behind the inaguaral success of the show. many doubted whether the show would survive his departure!

I'm not a very big fan of Chevy's to be honest and he's a guy who fucked over his own fame in the end, but that's the straight historical perspective on this guy. some of his movies like caddyshack are classics and he's better in that flick than bill murray... he invented the fake news format that spawned deadpanned and obtuse delivery. this was very influential in the early 80s... you can even see the influence of his delivery in a lot of what letterman used to do. bill murray channelled the best parts of Chevy Chase for years in movies like ghostbusters.

on the other hand will ferrell is hilarious in everything he's been in. he's got range though? that's the joke