MovieHoliks Over the weekend, I got around to watching this new Will Ferrell comedy special off HBO GO, and I was pretty bored. "Ferrell Takes The Field" is a documentary that follows Will Ferrell as he takes the field in five Major League Baseball training games, playing all nine positions for ten different teams in a single day. I believe this was done to raise money for charity, and while I commend this effort for that, I think with me not being a sports fan, I just couldn't get into it. I kept waiting for Will to be funny, but that never happened either...LOL

stevealexander-2 Well shot, great idea, it could have been lots of fun. This project misses a chance to be insightful, humorous & inspiring. There was a great chance to get an idea what the players thought, or what it felt like to be on the field with real pros in a real game... It just comes off week, & very has few laughs... Seeing him actually play full innings at least, would have been much better. Its a game of stats, a game of patience, & it is supposed to be fun... too bad more players * dugout interacting happened.... but he'd of had to stick around for a few minutes at each game. Ferrell's Shtick has fouled out... He's taking himself too seriously in an attempt to be funny...

Jared Rapaport While watching something else (on HBO probably), I came across the advertising for "Ferrell Takes the Field" in which they explain the rather simple premise and the reasoning behind it; Will Ferrell (as himself) will basically spend one day running, driving and flying around Arizona (during the MLB Spring League season)and playing every position on the field (and then some) for 10 different teams. The motivation behind this decision goes back to his love of baseball and a certain beloved player, Bert Campaneris, who managed to pull this feat off with one team back in 1965. Furthermore, the money raised from this "documentary-style" presentation is earmarked for charity, more specifically a cancer research charity which was started by one of Ferrell long-term friends and old fraternity brother from USC, who at one time was possibly considered as pro baseball prospect, but ever since his own personal battle with cancer (which has turned into a lifelong battle), he had to give up on that dream.What ensues is classic Ferrell doing his trademark overstated and somewhat obnoxious comedy and a presentation that depending on one's own feelings about the comedian, and/or his brand of comedy, you will likely either walk away from this in hysterics or with complete and total disdain. The jokes are in the style of essentially a situation comedy with baseball as the background and while some of Ferrell's comedic offerings in this piece fall flat, he does fully commit to this with the same fervor that he puts into everything else, and you likely will recognize some of his mannerisms, sarcasm and over-the-top foolishness from essentially many of the past films and/or skits and characters that he has played in the past.Unlike the two other reviewers of this so far, I enjoyed this, laughed immensely at times and had a good laugh, and while never at any point was I thinking this was his best work, it was certainly entertaining (in the way that you might find someone making a mockery of something funny, i.e.-somewhat obnoxious and exaggerated) and probably more important than anything else was the fact that the length of this was appropriately short (42 mins, I believe). The camera work, editing and Ferrell's characterization was everything you would expect from a Ferrell performance, and while you can clearly see some of the baseball players agitation with this kind of project (especially the Oakland A's players when he firs a, other professional players seemed to enjoy the lively discourse and antics of a Will Ferrell in the locker room and club house.Kudos to Will Ferrell for actually playing all of the positions the field, being involved in a minimal role regarding fielding, filling in as a third-base coach at one point to help some of the younger guys understand the situation that the team was in, going up to the plate and taking a couple of stabs at bat, sharing his sunflower seeds and even some of his nachos with teammates lifting their morale, and even quite possibly setting a M.L.B. record that could possibly stand forever as he started one game with the Arizona Diamondbacks playing outfield, yet after they began to trail by double-digits (and "yes" some of those last runs were due to Ferrell's misplaying of a fly ball hit towards his area of the outfield), Ferrell was traded during mid-game across the diamond to Cinncinati's dugout where he managed to become (what I have to believe was the first person ever to have done this) a member of the winning side and ended the game victorious by over double-digits in runs. Lastly, Ferrell does also demonstrate at least minimal knowledge of the game and its history, a normal skill level for the average person (with the exception of pitching which he may have participated somewhat in, but that was also clearly edited to some extent. Luckily, Ferrell's clearly familiar with baseball and was able to recognize the more promising situations and/or better instances to exploit for laughter, as Ferrell's awareness for all of that and combined with his more traditional strengths like improvisation, writing sequences and physical comedic ability along with a quick wit ensured that as long as the production team kept a watch on time, they would be able to avoid any risk of overkill with this rather simple, one-and-done premise and were able to make this light-hearted docu-comedy amusing for any and all who see it.

Steve Pulaski Ferrell Takes the Field is little else than a film that showcases the swollen ego of Will Ferrell, as he decides to support the charity of a longtime friend in the most attention-seeking way possible. In 2015, Ferrell decided that he would play all nine positions for ten Major League Baseball teams during the preseason. He would attend five different games, five different ballparks, and play for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and San Francisco Giants. The decision comes with the motivation to raise money and awareness for Cancer for College, a charity organization run by Craig Pollard, Ferrell's friend who has suffered from cancer, which works to give cancer-ridden teenagers an opportunity at going to school (they do everything to make it seem like it's not a pity charity). The end result is a tedious forty-eight minutes that has Ferrell playing for an inning or two for a baseball team, getting traded and throwing a fit, playing another inning in a different jersey, and driving or flying to another stadium four more times.For the forty-eight minutes, all Ferrell does is annoy the audience and the people around him. He comes off as unbelievably cocky and assured, and you can tell even the general reception of the ballplayers is negative, as they are all presumably questioning the purpose of the forty-seven-year-old comedy actor treating a professional organization like it's a recreation of The Sandlot amongst adolescents. The level of interest and excitement can be seen from the dullness of the Oakland Athletics' locker-room upon Ferrell's arrival, as the players look on with confusion and indifference to Ferrell's presence. When Ferrell winds up taking the field, he gets blank stares from both dugouts, and when he winds up costings the Diamondbacks more runs in the game, he gets boos and hisses from the crowd. I can't say I sympathize for him.Spliced in between footage of Ferrell playing is Ferrell endlessly spouting unfunny monologues about the game of baseball, intended to be satirical and overblown but simply coming off as grating fodder for a documentary, much less an event, that didn't need to happen. He fondly recalls childhood memories of his first Los Angeles Angels game, undoubtedly in a heavily fictionalized manner which just adds to the questionable purpose this documentary serves. If Ferrell isn't going to take the game of baseball seriously, the act of being able to play for ten teams in one day a privilege, and actually offer keen insights and divulge personal details about his relationship with the game, what's the purpose of this entire event? The only thing I can think of, as I said, is that Ferrell's ego has swollen considerably, to the point where he feels he should etch himself in places and events where he doesn't really belong. In film, he did that a few years back with the woefully unfunny Spanish-telenovela parody Casa De Mi Padre, and now, he decides to give himself unnecessary exposure by parading himself around in the MLB with a move that only seems to aggravate and bewilder those around him. With that, this pamphlet-deep documentary, much like the event itself, is needless, tired, and an unfunny stroll of one of the most forgettable ventures in Major League Baseball of recent memory; even the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox playing a game before a crowd of zero fans in the wake of the Freddie Gray protests in Baltimore was more eventful and interesting.NOTE: Ferrell Takes the Field will air for the entire month of September on HBO.Directed by: Brian McGinn.