Because I am a big softie, which I like to think is guided by my Catholic Faith, I do not enjoy making people uncomfortable. That is the premise behind Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019), a film based on a YouTube channel in which Zach Galifianakis plays a version of himself interviewing other celebrities. The questions are meant to be comedic, but if you do not know what is going on, they can come off as mean-spirited. That is the part I do not enjoy as a Christian who generally tries not to insult my fellow human beings. For this reason, the best part of the film is the outtakes at the end because they show these actors, who are playing themselves, breaking their “character” because they find whatever is happening to be funny. Who knows? Maybe this short description will interest you in continuing to read?
The discomfort begins in Between Two Ferns: The Movie in Flinch, North Carolina, where Zach plays a fictionalized version of himself as the host of Between Two Ferns, a low-budget interview program produced for the local public-access station for which he works. Zach believes he is a gifted interviewer destined for greater things, despite conducting his conversations between two potted ferns and routinely insulting his celebrity guests. Matthew McConaughey (as himself) becomes the latest victim when Zach asks whether he is concerned that everything he has accomplished is the result of having a Southern accent. The interview becomes considerably more dangerous when a pipe bursts and floods the studio. McConaughey nearly drowns, but he is revived, leaving Zach with a destroyed set and an understandably unhappy Funny or Die executive, Will Ferrell, also playing a version of himself. Will owns the Between Two Ferns brand and delights in Zach’s humiliation because the awkward interviews attract millions of online viewers. Zach, however, dreams of hosting a legitimate network talk show. Will offers him a deal: deliver ten new celebrity interviews in two weeks and Zach will receive his own program. If he fails, Will will take control of the public-access station. Zach therefore loads his small crew into a car for a cross-country road trip to Los Angeles. Joining him are producer Carol Hunch (Lauren Lapkus), cameraman Cameron “Cam” Campbell (Ryan Gaul), and sound technician “Boom Boom” DeLaurentiis (Jiavani Linayao). Their journey becomes a mobile version of Zach’s show as he tracks down celebrities wherever he can find them. He interviews Paul Rudd (as himself) and asks whether he would rather be invisible or Jewish, before observing that he already has one of those covered. Rashida Jones (as herself) is subjected to questions about her family, while Benedict Cumberbatch (as himself) is asked whether his name is real. Brie Larson (as herself), Jon Hamm (as himself), David Letterman (as himself), John Legend (as himself), Chrissy Teigen (as herself), Tessa Thompson (as herself), Awkwafina (as herself), Hailee Steinfeld (as herself), and others endure similarly insulting encounters. The celebrities generally sit stone-faced while Zach behaves as though his questions are perfectly reasonable, making basic Christian charity seem like a surprisingly radical interviewing technique. Between interviews, however, the movie gradually reveals that Zach’s greatest problem is not his inability to be polite to famous people. He is so consumed by the possibility of becoming a television star that he treats Carol, Cam, and Boom Boom as supporting players in his personal success story. Carol in particular believes in him and keeps the production functioning despite Zach’s selfishness. The trip is interrupted when the crew stops at a bar and Zach gets drunk, then confesses that he has been keeping Will’s ultimatum from them. His friends are hurt to learn that the future of their station has been wagered on his private ambition. They are also running out of money. Zach nevertheless continues pursuing interviews, including one with Peter Dinklage (as himself) in which he confronts the actor with suspiciously expensive items, stealing some to continue their expedition. Eventually, the group reaches Los Angeles and the Funny or Die offices. Zach believes he has fulfilled the bargain, only for Will to reveal that he never intended to treat him with respect. Will wants Zach precisely because he is ridiculous, and the promised talk show would simply package that ridicule for a larger audience. Zach is initially willing to accept the humiliation if it means achieving his dream. He creates the kind of program he always wanted, a conventional talk show called Fernin’ with Zach Galifianakis, complete with a polished set and an enthusiastic audience. The result is spectacularly unsuccessful. Without the hostility and awkwardness that made Between Two Ferns distinctive, Zach is simply another mediocre talk-show host. He ultimately recognizes that Carol and the others have supported him throughout the trip while he has repeatedly placed his own aspirations ahead of them. Zach walks away from Will’s version of success and returns to North Carolina with his friends. There is a final shot at the end of the credits wherein we are reminded that there has been a crew filming all these events as a documentary. However, they anger Zach when they reveal that this has been a student film project the entire time.
No matter what kind of movie Between Two Ferns: The Movie is, it consequently ends by pulling back the curtain on its own comedy. Zach may spend most of the story making everyone around him uncomfortable, but the laughter in the outtakes provides the reassuring evidence that, at least this time, insulting one’s neighbor was apparently a group project. Many of us have those kinds of friends with whom we can have a more acerbic back-and-forth without them being insulted. There is a kind of grace in that, but it can also be tricky, especially getting to that point. As much as we can have that kind of friendship, we are also wounded people. Wounded people can be healed with God’s help, but those emotional scars can also reopen. Because that can happen, I always find that it is best to be as Christ-like as possible in all my relationships. That does not mean that every friendship or interaction is going to be the same. The stereotype about the way a Christian is supposed to behave does not usually match reality, at least in my experience. Neither is that an invitation to give up because, you know, nobody is perfect. So much of Faith is about persevering, cooperating with God’s grace, repenting when we fail, and continuing to try to follow Him. Oddly, this is what Zach is trying to do in his own secular way throughout the film, even if he sometimes behaves with an almost sociopathic disregard for other people’s feelings. Such behavior is the opposite of being Christ-like, and using him as an example here is admittedly problematic. At the same time, there is an important lesson for any of us, including Christians who might struggle with belief in God, not to give up. Zach is about to do that when it looks like he will not make it to Los Angeles on time. Yet, he gets the sign he needs and achieves his goal. In the end, things do not work out exactly as he intended, but therein lies another lesson about life in general and the kinds of things God has in store for us. Providence does not mean that God will give us precisely the outcome we imagine. Sometimes what we receive instead teaches us something about what we should have been seeking in the first place.
If you decide to watch Between Two Ferns: The Movie, know that you will have a slightly uncomfortable movie in store for you. Luckily, there are the outtakes at the end, which let you know that there is levity still.
