One has a broken nose. Another a rubber face. The short, chubby one doesn't even brush his hair. And yet these are the new kings of Hollywood. Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan, Jack Black and Owen Wilson operate as an unofficial repertory company. The group, which revolves around Stiller, are friends, with some relationships going back 20 years. From Dodgeball and Anchorman to Elf and Zoolander, they appear in one another's films so often you get confused as to whose movie you're watching.
What's more, the slacker pack has virtually shut the studios out of the development process. By coming up with their own concepts, finding screenwriters and then offering the whole package for production, they are reshaping screen humor.
"Right now, they're the ruling oligarchy in terms of comedic films," confirms OK's LA columnist Ashley Pearson. "And they've managed to translate that worldwide. Often, American comedies don't do well overseas because of different cultural sensibilities. But they've managed to find things that are universally funny without going for the easy laugh. They're able to inject all the different elements -- romantic comedy, drama and slapstick -- into a new genre.
"And they play against each other as comic foils."
"What all these guys have in common," says Greg Gutfeld, the American-born editor of UK Maxim, "is they're not out to show that they're cooler than you are by bringing you down. They don't operate with wise-ass humor. Most of their comedy is directed at themselves; it's a self-loathing kind of humor that is more disarming. They enjoy making themselves look idiotic and, if you think about it, that's really, really smart."
"They're happy to approach sentiment," agrees Steve Coogan, who took part in a recent read-through of Stiller's latest film, Tropic Thunder. "They're very comfortable with vulnerability. British humor tends to be about the head and not the heart, there's a bit of a kneejerk reaction to sentimentality. What these films do is play to the strengths of actors like Ben Stiller or Jack Black, so it feels like a natural extension of character. It's very instinctual and organic."
Ever since There's Something About Mary, Stiller's position as Hollywood's top comic antihero has been unshakeable. Rumor has it he rang his agent and said: "I have five words for you: Owen Wilson; Starsky and Hutch." Within days, he had sold the idea to Warner Brothers and landed a budget of US$60 million.
What Stiller et al have done is create a new brand of comedy that goes beyond the gross-out humor of the Farrelly Brothers. Next-generation humor is "smart-dumb" comedy, inspired in part by the films of Harold Ramis (Animal House, Caddyshack). Yes, there may be body fluids, but the writing is sharp and character-based. "Slapstick is stupid," argues Gutfeld. "Someone falling down, or getting a ball in the groin -- it's been done. But they seem to find new ways to make you laugh while they're enduring horrible pain. Will Ferrell is a pleasure to watch because you know he is almost indestructible."
Their films reach all demographics. Best of all, they are funny in a way that women don't find offensive. No wonder Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Aniston and Cate Blanchett want to work with them (Kidman handpicked Ferrell for Bewitched). "What a lot of these actresses can't do is be funny," says Pearson. "They put themselves with these sure-thing comedians to make it happen."
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