The format of Between Two Ferns as a webshow is pretty simple, Galifianakis interviews a celebrity by asking them ultra-awkward questions. Two ferns are placed on opposite ends of the set. For this feature film extension of this premise, this set-up doesn't change, but we do get more background on what goes into making this show. In this universe, Galifianakis is no movie star, he's merely the host of Between Two Ferns, a public access television show. He carries ambitions of hosting an actual late-night TV talk show and his producer Will Ferrell gives him a chance at pursuing just that if Galifianakis is willing to travel around the country and record 13 new episodes of Between Two Ferns.
Galifianakis packs up his ferns and eccentric crew to hit the road and get more episodes of this program made. We actually get to see large chunks of these episodes play throughout Between Two Ferns: The Movie, which ends up answering how exactly writer/director Scott Aukerman plans to expand this concept into a feature-length motion picture. Between Two Ferns: The Movie frequently takes on the appearance of about a dozen Between Two Ferns sketches stitched together with brief digressions into a parody of a schmaltzy road trip movie about following your dreams. This does end up making Between Two Ferns: The Movie feel more than a touch episodic since its whole structure revolves around individual episodes of Between Two Ferns.
Thankfully, the sketches themselves are usually pretty humorous. This whole concept of Galifianakis just throwing awkward and demeaning questions at celebrities really should be the quintessential example of a comedic one-trick pony. Somehow though, Galifianakis has managed to keep it consistently funny, partially because he's willing to constantly bring in new celebrities and tailor the questions just for them. Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson weren't A-listers when this show started out back in 2008, but this movie is more than willing to bring them on in and have them engage in this cringe-inducing hilarity by having them sit through questions only they could get asked. That level of detail might be why these sketches have managed to endure longer than you'd think.
The best of the interviews has gotta be one for Jon Hamm, an actor who's always been down for weird comedy in his career and managed to get me laughing even before the interview started thanks to a scene of him gleefully leaving an autograph signing session to go be on Between Two Ferns. His subsequent cackling over Galifianakis insulting the movie Tag is similarly hilarious. Another pair of standout segments involve married couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend getting entangled with Zach Galifianakis. It's a storyline that goes to some unexpectedly strange places which end up containing some of the most humorous moments of the entire movie.
As for the storyline centered on Galifianakis yearning for his own talk show, that stuff's more hit-or-miss in terms of comedy. Rarely is the comedy bad and it's nice that this portion of Between Two Ferns: The Movie leads to a Paul F. Tompkins cameo, but too many of the gags are on the predictable side of things. Predictability is not something you can abide in a movie about the web-series that once asked circa. 2014 Brad Pitt about his thoughts on the TV show Friends. Feel free to zone out during these portions of Between Two Ferns: The Movie while we all wait for it to get back to doing what it does best: having celebrities interact with Zach Galifianakis and his unique brand of comedic awkwardness.
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