Zach Galifianakis: Ten episodes of your dumb internet talk show, and you give me a lifetime network talk show.
Will Ferrell: Lifetime?
Zach Galifianakis: I'm a white man and I'm straight, I deserve it.
Will Ferrell: Lifetime?
Zach Galifianakis: I'm a white man and I'm straight, I deserve it.
The Movie of internet talk show Between Two Ferns, directed by Scott Aukerman.
Zach Galifianakis plays the host of Between Two Ferns, a small-time web interview series that Funny or Die founder Will Ferrell produces for kicks. But after a disastrous interview with Matthew McConaughey destroys the public access station the series is filmed in, Ferrell forces Galifianakis and his crew to go on a road trip across the country to produce more episodes of the show.
In addition to a host of celebrity cameos as the interview guests, the film also features Lauren Lapkus as plucky assistant Carol, Ryan Gaul as cameraman Cam, and Jiavani Linayao as boom mic operator "Boom Boom". The film was released on September 20, 2019 on Netflix.
Tropes:
- Adam Westing: Most of the celebrities featured are made fun of (eg. Jon Hamm is played as an idiot, Benedict Cumberbatch's name is unpronounceable, Peter Dinklage is an obnoxious rich party animal, Will Ferrell is an asshole coked-up media exec). Galifianakis in particular plays himself as an oblivious, incompetent Small Name, Big Ego host.
- Ambiguously Brown: Zach asks Rashida Jones what race she is.
- *Bleep*-dammit!: Zach screws up his attempt to censor Country Matters in his interview with Benedict Cumberbatch.Zach: Why do Brits love the word "[bleep]ing cunt" so much? Fuck, I was supposed to push [the censor button] during "cunt". Why do you think that Br[bleep] love the word "[bleep]unt" so much?
- Coincidental Broadcast: Parodied, at his lowest point Zach catches a show titled "Don't Give Up", and, well...
- Compensating for Something: Zach suggests this is the reason David Letterman likes fast cars.
- Empathic Environment: It's raining heavily as Zach walks upset and alone on the roadside.
- Fun with Subtitles: The captions introducing the talk show guests are rife with misspellings and Actor Allusions — for example, Matthew McConaughey is credited as "Dazed and Confused (also an actor)", while Hailee Steinfeld is "H. Lee Seinfeld", since Zach can't get her name right.
- Girl Friday: Carol is the reliable, earnest right-hand woman to Zach.
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": Lampshaded; the cameraman's name is Cam.
- I Am Very British: Zach apparently thinks Benedict Cumberbatch's posh British accent accent covers up for his lack of acting skills.
- Informed Judaism: Applies to Paul Rudd's Hollywood persona according to Zach, since Rudd has been "great" at hiding his Jewishness.
- Mockumentary: The entire thing is being filmed by a camera crew, including all the dramatics.
- Mock Hollywood Sign: The "Ferns" backdrop is the word "Ferns" in the style of the Hollywood sign.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: For a host interviewing Hollywood celebrities, Zach himself is often unaware of his guests's careers, such as when he assumes an actor introducing himself as "from Parks and Recreation" means they're from the Parks department, and when he didn't know Ocean's 8 and Ghostbusters (2016) were based on famous all-male franchises.
- Road Trip Plot: The crew drives from North Carolina to Los Angeles, interviewing several celebrities along the way.
- Sell-Out: The crew accuses Zach of becoming this after his gimmicky, high-profile network talk show debuts.
- Skewed Priorities: After nearly drowning in the flood and after nearly getting into a car accident, Zach's main priority is his ferns.
- Shout-Out: In addition to the references to the interviewees' careers.
- Zach asks if Chance the Rapper's brother is named "Community Chest".
- Brie Larson is erroneously (in-universe, since the show is Stylistic Suck) credited with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
- Stylistic Suck: The interviews are stilted and awkward, with Galifianakis making the guests uncomfortable.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Zach Galifianakis, who is a rude, unpleasant wannabe host who exploits his crew.
- Unusual Euphemism: Zach suggests "EGOT" is John Legend's euphemism for his penis.
- You Know I'm Black, Right?: Played for Laughs, When Adam Scott introduces himself as "Adam Scott from Parks and Recreation", Zach misunderstands, assumes he's from the actual Parks department, and admits that he dislikes the Hollywood actor types. Scott is unimpressed.
