Adam McKay and Will Ferrell have collaborated on some of the best known comedies of the past decade. The two have partnered to bring such classics as “Anchorman” and “Step Brothers” to the screen, however, in the duo’s latest collaboration, McKay takes a back seat, producing rather than directing.
“Get Hard” stars Ferrell as James King, a millionaire accused of tax fraud. Facing incarceration, he turns to Darnell Lewis (played by Kevin Hart) to help toughen him up before his stint in San Quentin State Prison.
Both Hart and Ferrell spoke with me over the phone regarding their new film.
“Coming in and working with these guys was great,” Hart said. “Will and Adam have worked together for so long that they know each other already so well and it was really cool to get to see them do their thing together.”
The film marks the directorial debut of long time screenwriter Etan Cohen, whose credits include “Tropic Thunder,” “Men in Black 3” and “Idiocracy,” as well as numerous episodes of “King of the Hill.”
Hart said that although it was Cohen’s first time behind the camera, he was still incredibly easy to work with.
“Etan was great,” Hart said. “He’s a really funny guy who knows when something’s working and when something isn’t, so he really helped make each scene as funny as possible.”
“Yeah, having Etan direct was great,” Ferrell agreed. “He has this great background as a writer that I think really allowed him to understand the script from that standpoint and I think he made a really unique film.
Where McKay and Ferrell’s previous collaborations such as “The Campaign” have made their fair share of social commentary, Ferrell says “Get Hard” does the same, albeit in its own way.
“One of the things I loved so much about the script when I read it was the way it played on preconceived notions,” Ferrell said. “My character thinks Kevin’s has been to prison even though he hasn’t, so the whole movie’s based on my character having this idea in his head even though that’s not actually how things are.”
So far, the film has been getting positive reviews, especially those that came from the film’s premiere earlier this month at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
“There was just an atmosphere of excitement that I haven’t seen at a premiere in a long, long time.” Ferrell said. “The crowd was just really into it and it was a super cool way to watch a film.”
Ferrell also said that it was great to work with Hart.
“Kevin is so easy to get along with,” Ferrell said. “He’s really funny and works really hard to make sure that things go the best way possible. I really had a great time working with him on the movie.”
“Get Hard” opens Friday.
Contact this reporter at seweinst@asu.edu or on Twitter @S_Weinstein95.
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