A man is so happy to finally be at Dunkin’ Donuts that he doesn’t even know which cake to choose, much to the exasperation of his best friend. The donut chosen is banal, as one would expect from a chain store, but the man drinks it with the childish joy that we find in comfort, in the known. It is a light and comic moment, but it ends up acquiring another charm because it appears almost at the end of two of Will and Harpera documentary precisely about the discomfort of the unknown, the fight against who we are and what we pretend to be.
Will is Will Ferrell, the popular and scandalous comic actor, the man who only wants to fill himself with empty calories. And Harper is Harper Steele, her best friend, whom she met in 1995 as Andrew Steele, one of the cult show’s most prolific writers. Saturday night live. They both started the same week and quickly created a successful partnership, which resulted in several sketches and movies (like Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Sagafilm about Eurovision in which Salvador Sobral has a brief appearance).
After almost 30 years of companionship, Andrew revealed a secret of his entire life: he felt like a woman and was going to begin the transition process. He said it in an email to those closest to him (or if he wasn’t a screenwriter, someone who prefers the written word), in the middle of the pandemic, which ended with “instead of being an asshole, I’ll be a whore.” ” (something like “instead of an idiot, I’ll be a goat”). And he signed “Name to be determined.” Will Ferrell’s reaction was one of unconditional love, but also confusion. He never suspected that his friend lived a secret life full of anguish, sadness and suicide attempts.
[o trailer de “Will & Harper”:]
The documentary now premiering on Netflix captures the two friends about two years after this change. They will spend 16 days on a road trip that will cross the United States, from New York to Los Angeles. The trip has two objectives: on the one hand, they can take advantage of the time behind the wheel to ask all the questions they have always wanted to ask: about what it is like to have breasts, about wanting to get back into a relationship, about choosing a new name. On the other hand, try Harper (who has always loved driving through deepest America and looking for the coolest bars): will it be as comfortable to take this route as a trans person than as a man? “I don’t know if I can go to the same places as Harper,” he worries.
The journey begins in the city where Harper lives, New York. Will Ferrell goes to meet him and the first stop is to have breakfast with the screenwriter’s daughters. It is the first occasion in which it is possible to begin to clear up all the uncomfortable doubts, in a moment of great generosity and respect between everyone. From there, they head to the legendary 30 Rock, headquarters of NBC, where they meet former and more recent SNL colleagues, such as Tina Fey, Seth Meyers and Tim Meadows.
Directed by Josh Greenbaum, already awarded for his work in documentaries, Will and Harper It always has an intimate tone, never acknowledging the cameras or the small crew surrounding the participants. The moments are unscripted and quickly go from crying to silliness, like a good conversation between friends. The result provides a lot of proximity and makes the film a love object, but it raises a question, assumed by Harper herself in the second half: we are in a very controlled environment, where everyone is kind and understanding, and not real everyday life. . life of someone trans. An example of this is the scene in which, after a dinner between the two published on social networks, the comments overflow, in clear contrast to the face-to-face conversations even with the most seasoned bourgeois in a lost billiard room. on the outskirts.
Will Ferrell is presented as the protective and attentive friend who, despite this, can say a provocation at any moment (“Do you drive worse because you are a woman?”). It’s there to show that everything is okay outside of your comfort zone, like when Harper tells him she hates his masculine voice and he takes her to karaoke. It is a charming film for those who have empathy. For others, there are always the comment boxes.
Source: Observadora
