Review: Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds bring holiday bromance to musical-comedy ‘Spirited’
The actor’s comedy is based on his film, which he wrote and directed.
Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds will bring their on-screen bromance on movie screens during December, when an adaptation of their 1998 smash hit musical comedy ‘Spirited’ comes to theaters.
The film reunites the duo from the 1998 smash hit spoof with director Drew Pearce and musical-theater star Adam Sandler, and revolves around two boys who are separated at birth and must make a pact to join forces to get their adopted family together.
“I always wanted to put a little bit of Will and a littler Ryan together,” Sandler told the Hollywood Reporter when asked why he was drawn to ‘Spirited,’ a project that he said “made an indelible impression on me when I saw it first.”
“It’s kind of ironic that my character comes from two guys who are best friends who are in a musical, but they are also very different and they have very different personalities. So that’s what makes ‘Spirited’ incredibly compelling and unique,” he said.
Sandler confirmed he would be reprising the role of “Fat Man” — and that “Spirited” star Mark-Paul Gosselaar will be playing the boy who is the object of their affections.
Ferrell told THR that he has no plans to reprise his role of Ben, an aspiring boxer who becomes jealous of his rival, who has the same dream as Ferrell’s character.
“You know, being a teenager that I was in high school and all that stuff, I did think about how great it would be to play Ben again, but we didn’t get to do it in ‘Cats’ and all that kind of stuff,” the 45-year-old said. “So that would have been more like ‘Spirited’ — it wouldn’t have been the same. With Adam Sandler as my fat friend and Will Ferrell playing my other best friend, it just was much more fun.”
Ferrell said the film’s ensemble includes a “great song and dance team”:
