Will & Harper, a chronicle of a 16-day cross-country road trip made by Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, deals with two old friends adjusting to a challenging new development in their lives. In 2022, Steele came out as a transgender woman.
Previously, Steele had been Andrew Steele; he and Ferrell had been friends since 1995 when they met as new members of the Saturday Night Live family. Steele wrote for SNL and championed Ferrell, who didn't immediately fit the SNL mold.
After reading an email in which Harper, who has two children from a now-dissolved marriage, discussed his identity as a transgender woman, Ferrell thought a cross-country trip might be in order. The two travelers would determine how they might continue to relate to each other.
For Steele, the trip also became a test run for a shifting persona, a chance to be seen in public in the kind of places she frequented as Andrew. While traveling solo across the country, Andrew indulged his fondness for dive bars, places not usually associated with gender diversity.
Could Harper bring a truck-stop sensibility to her transgender evolution?
Inevitably episodic, Will & Harper includes poignant and revealing moments. Ferrell approaches his friend with sincerity, and Steele responds in kind. The two share memories and laughs, as they navigate waters that aren't always comfortable.
Harper talks about the despair she felt prior to transitioning, but she approaches some of Ferrell’s questions with openness and good humor.
Her boobs? She says she loves them.
At one point, Ferrell and Steele -- both sports fans -- attend an Indiana Pacers' game where they encounter Republican Governor Eric Holcomb, who's cordial even though he'd just signed legislation imposing restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors.
After the meeting, Ferrell learned about the ban. Oops.
During a later stop, Steele and Ferrell visit an Oklahoma bar sporting a confederate flag and an impolite anti-Biden sign. Steele enters first; the bar’s patrons become friendlier once Ferrell makes his entrance. I guess celebrity presence opens doors.
Steele talks about his masculine face and voice, and tries to learn new rules of the road. As a transgender woman, it might be ill-advised for Harper to walk alone down alleys, something Andrew might have done without giving it much thought. Such gender-related recalibrations add another layer of interest.
Director Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) offers a goofy scene in an upscale Las Vegas restaurant that seems overly contrived, and in a trip that can't entirely avoid road fatigue, not every observation proves fascinating.
But Ferrell and Harper risk a level of exposure that many would avoid, and the movie ultimately tells a story about an enduring friendship. Without calling attention to the fact that Ferrell and Steele are accompanied by a film crew, Will & Harper serves as a testament to a shared history that both want to preserve, even in the face of radical change.*
*Now in select theaters, Will & Harper begins streaming on Netflix on Sept. 27.
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