With just about perfect timing, on the eve of an administration that has supporters that do not look favorably on The Other, whether as a fellow citizen or someone from abroad, this documentary film has a timely arrival. Will Ferrell receives an email from a decades-long friend advising of his transition to a woman. The pair met earlier in their career on Saturday Night Live and Ferrell decides it would be great to make a cross country trip with the friend he now knows as Harper Steele.
The trip will give them an opportunity with plenty of windshield time to explore their relationship and Harper’s transition. It will also give Harper an opportunity to venture into the kind of places she enjoyed as a man.
The trek starts with a visit to 30 Rock, headquarters of SNL. There they are warmly embraced at a reunion of their fellow former cast members (Tina Fey, Colin Jost, Molly Shannon, et al).
Throughout the trip Ferrell’s humor is in full effect, but perhaps too much so in a Texas steakhouse. The pair realizes the next day that perhaps they pushed their luck a bit too far, after having been accepted in other unexpected places, like a dirt car racetrack and a decidedly right wing pool hall roadhouse.
But much like Sacha Baron Cohen more brashly uses the words of the narrow-minded to expose their shortcomings, here the social media reactions about the pair’s road trip reinforces the truly good things going on.
The music licensed for the film is amazing, with some very impressive artists providing their music for some poignant synchronizations: Elton John, Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra for the clever Las Vegas scene.
And kudos to Kristen Wiig, who delivers musically to order; stay through the end credits.
It is hoped the filmmakers did a good job in the editing, presenting a proportional balance of the reactions they encountered along the way. If so, there is hope going forward, regardless of what the shifting political winds bring.
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