Will & Harper
In Josh Greenbaum’s compassionate, alarming documentary, Will Ferrell goes on a 3,000-mile road trip with an old friend transitioning into a woman.
Nomanland: Will Ferrell and Harper Steele
Image courtesy of Netflix.
There are several reasons for revisiting Josh Greenbaum’s documentary, first released on Netflix back in September. One, it’s accumulating a number of prizes and nominations in the congested awards season. Two, it serves as an interesting parallel to the entirely more calculating, Oscar-garlanded Emilia Pérez. And three, its message is even more important in light of a statement made by the new US president on the day of his inauguration. “As of today,” Donald Trump declared, “it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” But what if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are in the process of transitioning from one sex to another? Believe it or not, according to the software company AdImpact, the Republican Party spent nearly $215 million on anti-trans network TV ads.
Now, Harper is not who she used to be. She used to be Andrew Steele, head writer of the comedy TV phenomenon Saturday Night Live. On her first day at the network, then as Andrew Steele, she met another newcomer called Will Ferrell and they forged an immediate bond. Twenty-seven years later, Steele sent Ferrell an email announcing that he/she was transitioning, and would henceforward be using the pronoun “she.” According to Josh Greenbaum, the director of this astonishing documentary, 77% of Americans say they do not know a transperson. And yet three million Americans identify as transgender (according to a survey by the US Census Bureau). As part of her transition, Harper, once an inveterate traveller, wanted to re-visit the places that helped form her as a person. “I love this country so much,” Harper admits. “I just don’t know if it loves me back right now.” So, Will Ferrell agrees to lend physical and emotional support and the two friends take a three-thousand-mile road trip across the US, from New York City to LA.
At first, sugared up by Nathan Halpern’s treacly score and a sense of uneasiness from the two protagonists, the film feels as if it is going to be a self-conscious and sentimental embarrassment. But as the trip progresses and Greenbaum’s discreet crew keeps its distance, the comedy stars open up and reveal the depths of their friendship, as well as Harper’s psychological evolution. At once a story of intimate camaraderie and an often-scary portrait of America today, the film tightens its emotional grip. Old colleagues from SLN are introduced (Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Seth Meyers), Harper’s two daughters are invited for a meal at a diner and Ferrell and Steele camp out at a Walmart car park and on the edge of the Grand Canyon, while driving through a blizzard and across endless desert highways, meeting all sorts of people along the way. In all, Greenbaum captured 250 hours of footage of the journey, which he had to whittle down to under two hours. He felt it was important just to keep the camera turning.
Although Ferrell can never resist doing his shtick and showing off, Harper becomes a more rounded, honest character as the film progresses, revealing, “I’m not afraid of hating these people [transphobes], I’m afraid of hating myself.” There are some genuinely heartbreaking revelations, scenes of seemingly spontaneous intimacy and a priceless visit with Harper’s dry-as-toast sister Eleanor. An unseemly number of Pringles are consumed, too. And then there is the occasional unexpected comic gem. At one point Ferrell asks, “Do you think you’re a worse driver now as a female?” To which Harper replies, “That’s the dumbest… That’s so… No, that is so… But I am.” You have to laugh. But crying is allowed, too.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Featuring Will Ferrell, Harper Steele, Tina Fey, Will Forte, Colin Jost, Tim Meadows, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, Tracy Morgan, Paula Pell, Molly Shannon, Kristen Wiig.
Dir Josh Greenbaum, Pro Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Josh Greenbaum, Christopher Leggett and Rafael Marmor, Ph Zoë White, Ed Monique Zavistovski, Music Nathan Halpern.
Delirio Films/Gloria Sanchez Productions/Wayfarer Studios-Netflix.
114 mins. USA. 2024. UK and US Rel: 13 September 2024. Cert. 15.
