Unlike most of his comedic peers, Will Ferrell has never seemed insistent on proving his dramatic bona fides — aside from the one-year span a while back where he put out the negligible Winter Passing and the dramedy Stranger Than Fiction, Ferrell’s basically stuck to broad farce. His turn in last fall’s TIFF entry Everything Must Go, then, felt like a respectable departure, casting Ferrell as an alcoholic who decides to set up shop on his front lawn and sell off all of his belongings. The trailer came out today in advance of the film’s May release, and though it might be different than most of Ferrell’s movies, it still checks off a lot of familiar boxes. Is Will Ferrell a middle-aged sad sack who’s getting fired from his crappy job after years of service? Yes, just like in Larry Crowne! Does he learn to see life differently thanks to a precocious African American boy who won’t leave his side? Yes, just like in happythankyoumoreplease! Is his reputation as a weird, free-falling loser somehow attractive to a gorgeous new love interest? Yes, just like … well, almost every movie nowadays (including, as it happens, Ferrell’s other comedies).
