Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.
Most people, I think, have a fairly strong opinion about Will Ferrell. I don’t actually. When Ferrell has good material and is reined in by a strong director, he’s a very capable actor. He can pull off drama and he has the capacity to be incredibly funny. I think television was much more his medium; his movies often feel hit-or-miss to me. Will and Harper is very much a different sort of film, though, and when I heard about it, I knew I’d be watching it.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of this one, it’s pretty simple. Former Saturday Night Live head writer Andrew Steele decided late in life, after having kids and ultimately getting divorced, that he would be more comfortable living as a woman, and began transitioning. This was something that she sprung on people with an email. Her close friend Will Ferrell decided that the two of them should take a road trip across the country, going to places where Andrew had been before but would now be approaching as the newly-named Harper Steele for the first time.
I admit that there was a little bit of trepidation going in. Will Ferrell is primarily a comedian, and he very much has the persona of being someone who will do anything for a laugh. Was this something he was going to address seriously? Was this even serious to begin with? I opted to watch this with no preconceived notions, taking it completely at face value. It turns out this is exactly the way to take Will and Harper, because that is how it is intended. Harper Steele has transitioned to living as a woman, and she and Will decide to see how their relationship now works. At the same time, Harper seeks to discover if she can still be comfortable in the cheap dive bars she loved while a man, and that frequently seem far less accepting to transgender people in general.
There is no real plot here aside from Will and Harper essentially rediscovering or reconfiguring their friendship to accommodate the new reality of Harper’s life. They do things to seek moments of normalcy, acceptance, and connection for Harper—they go to a Pacers game in Indianapolis, hang out in a dive bar in Oklahoma, and stick their feet in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. And, almost surprisingly, even deep in Trump country, a lot of what they find is at least a general sort of acceptance. Often, the right kind of indifference is the best form of acceptance—people not caring is in many ways the truest form of tolerance.
There are a few moments of difficulty and ugliness. Their respective Twitter feeds get clogged up with TERF-y nonsense and cruelty, for instance. A more difficult sequence occurs when Ferrell attempts to eat a 4 ½ pound steak at a restaurant in Texas. He does so wearing his Sherlock Holmes costume from Holmes and Watson, which ends up drawing even more attention to both of them. It’s something that Ferrell clearly regrets the next day, not because of the attention brought to himself but the potential negative attention this might have brought to his friend.
Ultimtely, Will and Harper is very sweet. This could have very easily gone off the rails and been something that would feel cheap or exploitative, but it never does. Both Steele and Ferrell come across as genuine and as people who deeply care about each other. Ferrell is clearly protective of his friend’s new identity, talking about her transition almost as a challenge to people they encounter. He’s ready to defend her. For Harper’s side of things, she’s looking to be accepted for who she now is. There are definitely moments where she is self-conscious about being who she is where she is, but she also is beyond the point where she’s going to pretend to be something else. It’s pretty affirming in general.
The truth about Will and Harper is that the sort of person who is going to support the gender transition of someone like Harper Steele is going to enjoy this movie a great deal, and will get a very good look at the reality of Will Ferrell as a person rather than a character on the screen. People who scream about “groomers” and yell about there being two genders are going to either avoid this movie because of the subject matter or are going to hate watch it, looking to be outraged. If you’re outraged by this, though, you’ve got more problems than I can help you deal with.
You know what kind of person you are and if you would support someone’s transition. If you are that person, you’ll almost certainly like this. I very much am that person. For someone my age, I know a surprising number of trans people, and all of them have my full support.
Why to watch Will and Harper: It genuinely feels like a warm hug.
Why not to watch: Because some people are terrible.
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