'Will and Harper' overview: Heartwarming, hopeful, and hilarious – Cyber Tech

Will & Harper is a unprecedented story of friendship, a documentary portrait of how a relationship can develop and alter over time, as we ourselves do. 

For 30 years, Will Ferrell has delighted audiences together with his kooky capering and outrageous characters. Behind the scripts of a few of his most daring ventures — just like the Spanish-language telenovela spoof Casa de mi Padre, the elegant Lifetime film parody A Lethal Adoption, and the completely epic musical comedy Eurovision Music Contest: The Story of Fireplace Saga — was Ferrell’s long-time good friend and collaborator Harper Steele.

The 2 met again once they had been each newbies at Saturday Night time Stay. However for all these years, Steele was hiding a facet of herself, going by a given identify and an assigned gender id that chafed. At 61, she got here out as a trans girl, re-introduced herself as Harper, and commenced to navigate what this might imply for her relationships to buddies and to the broader world. When she was male-presenting, she used to go on cross-country journeys, fortunately delving into dive bars, sporting occasions, and different historically macho areas with relative ease. However would these similar areas nonetheless be secure as a trans girl? 

Looking for to reconnect together with his good friend as she eased into her transition, Will set out with Harper on a 16-day highway journey throughout the U.S., revisiting previous haunts and taking over new adventures to deepen their bond. Studded with celeb cameos and silliness, Will & Harper is a must-see for comedy followers. Past that, it is a good and shifting documentary that captures how id and friendships can change for the higher. 

Will & Harper welcomes audiences right into a heat and humorous friendship. 

Harper Steele and Will Ferrell go on a highway journey in “Will & Harper.”
Credit score: Netflix

Directed by Josh Greenbaum, helmer of the spectacular buddy comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Will & Harper displays the defining humor of its topics with dedication. Initially, Greenbaum employs conventional methods, like speaking head interviews and a montage of TV and film clips to swiftly set up how Ferrell and Steele got here to know one another. However there are particulars that break up that formality, like Ferrell commenting on the B-roll being shot as he sits down, after which describing his good friend as a “a lovable curmudgeon with a super-weird humorousness” who loves “shitty beer.” 

From there, Ferrell shares the e-mail Steele despatched him in 2021, whereas he was capturing Spirited, the Ryan Reynolds’–fronted Christmas musical. “I will be transitioning to dwell as a girl,” Steele wrote, admitting now in her personal on-screen interview that the e-mail was “actually onerous to ship.” Shared with the viewers, this deeply private letter treats us as if we too are her long-time good friend, the doc doc entrusting us with this vulnerability on the 3-minute mark. We additionally get a style of the sensibility that has knowledgeable the titular twosome’s bond and work collectively. 

“I doubt being a trans girl will change my persona that a lot,” Steele reads her electronic mail on digital camera aloud, “As a substitute of an asshole, I will be a bitch.” Past this, Steele displays on what sending the notice risked, admitting her worry of popping out as trans: “Will I nonetheless be beloved?”

For his half, Ferrell wonders in his interview, “OK, the place can we go from right here?…Will I be making a very new good friend?” And, “Does she nonetheless like shitty beer?” 

Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Seth Meyers, Will Forte, and extra seem and present assist. 

Harper Steele, Will Ferrell, and Will Forte hitchhike in “Will & Harper.”
Credit score: Netflix

The primary cease on the duo’s journey is New York Metropolis, the place they reunite with an array of well-known co-stars over dinner. It is a acquainted area — close to 30 Rock, the place they had been as soon as royalty, amongst individuals they’ve recognized and beloved for many years. However there is a stress amid the reverie and jokes, as Steele’s buddies fear aloud about her security on this endeavor.

“My transition would possibly change the way in which I navigate the nation,” she admits, noting she likes “the bottom worst locations.” To which Tina Fey chirps with fear, “It isn’t secure for you anymore!”

Different SNL forged members pop up later, with Kristen Wiig being conscripted for a particular task and Will Forte assembly up for some informal hot-air ballooning. However Fey’s worry is mirrored within the reactions of Steele’s grown youngsters, considered one of whom presses as to how Ferrell would possibly defend her mother or father ought to issues get hostile on the highway. Over lunch at a Greek diner, Ferrell makes a joke about being a educated martial artist, a bit that goes over like a lead balloon. However his protect is definitely considered one of privilege. 

Will Ferrell knowingly wields his privilege as a wealthy and well-known white cis-man. 

And it is typically very efficient. With out placing too superb some extent on it, Ferrell understands that he possesses privilege that Steele doesn’t. As they stride right into a Pacers sport at a sporting enviornment or a backroads dive bar or a Texas BBQ place, he is aware of he’ll be superb as a result of nobody will query his place there. The clear expectation is that by being with him, Steele shall be shielded, no less than a bit. 

At occasions this works, like when an anti-trans politician bites his tongue about their road-tripping quest, seemingly as a result of he values chatting up a celeb greater than revealing his bigotry. However this occasion additionally causes Ferrell to replicate about whether or not being a protect is sufficient. Ought to he have stated one thing and challenged this politician? Ought to he have weaponized his privilege? The movie will not preach a straightforward reply, however as an alternative invitations us to look at Ferrell and Steele hash that out collectively. If they may return, what would have been completed in another way?

For her half, Steele is not any damsel in misery. As she grows extra snug on the highway, she yearns to step exterior of Ferrell’s bubble of celeb safety, going into one seedy joint on her personal. And whereas the group there’s welcoming — extra so when she invitations the SNL star inside to hitch her — one other meeting alongside the way in which will not be. To guarantee these in need of a set off warning: There is not any violence. However one very public outing ends in sneers and bigoted backlash on-line, during which each Steele and Ferrell are denounced, although Steele extra grotesquely. That is the low level within the narrative, one the movie asks us to take somberly, which the chums do as effectively, reflecting on what such reactions imply about America and Steele’s life going ahead.

Right here, in a Texas BBQ, is the hate and judgment Steele feared for thus lengthy, however she bought by it. In fact, others within the trans neighborhood will not be so fortunate, as stats level to anti-trans violence being on the rise within the U.S. Nevertheless, Will & Harper does not faux to be about all trans experiences. This documentary is not meant to be a blanket assertion about what it means to be trans in America. As its title suggests, it is about what it means for Harper to be trans in America, the place she enjoys sure privileges that may protect her. However past that, it is about how a selected friendship advanced to assist each side develop extra snug in their very own pores and skin and with one another.

Will & Harper is a narrative of trans pleasure.

Harper Steele and Will Ferrell hand around in “Will & Harper.”
Credit score: Netflix

In the long run, that is what makes Will & Harper so outstanding. Positive, Ferrell will sometimes deflect stress by leaning right into a bit, like dressing up as Sherlock Holmes or hiding his well-known face behind preposterous glued-on facial hair. However at its core, this can be a film that is bracingly intimate, permitting us to trip alongside on a defining highway journey.

Whether or not they’re speaking about Pringles flavors, tearful reminiscences, or deep-set anxieties, we’re buckled in with them. Possibly we’ll see ourselves or somebody we love in Will or Harper. For some, this film will be the good friend they should assist them higher perceive trans id and themselves. Throughout this highway journey, we’re invited to awe within the blossoming of Harper, who went from hiding herself away to sharing herself with the world, not with out worry, however with inspiring bravery. 

Will & Harper is a resoundingly joyful and shifting documentary, resplendent in its openness. It is their love story, and it is superb.

Reviewed out of the 2024 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition, Will & Harper debuts on Netflix Sept. 27.