Comic actor Will Ferrell met TV comedy writer Anthony Steele more than thirty years ago when the two worked on Saturday Night Live. Since then, their friendship has been strong. One day a couple years ago, Will received a letter from Harper Steele to inform her – not his but her, buddy that she has transitioned. She now is Harper, no longer Anthony. To see her, as we the audience soon do, Harper has an updo of sweeping, thinning, long grey hair and a wardrobe of shabby women’s clothing. Harper is anything but a glamourous woman, but she now is a woman, a trans woman.
How will the two relate to each other under the new circumstances? To find out, the two friends go on a 16-day road trip cross-country together to find out.
This plan led the two to create a documentary feature about their newly adjusting relationship. Directed by Josh Greenbaum, it’s on Netflix and is titled Will & Harper.
In addition to being an exploration of an altered friendship, Harper is exploring what her life is like, what it’s about, and how she and her newly experienced world interact. In this journey of hers, she has gone through fearfulness, sadness, satisfaction- all on a cognitive rollercoaster of sorts. She has so much unease to overcome… so much questioning, not of her transitioning, but of her place in her new situation—a place that suits her, that is comfortable, even joyful. How does the world see her? How does she perceive the world around her? How does she perceive herself?
There should be more sensitive studies of trans people. That way, the population would become more sensitized to the difficulties these folks go through. I only rarely have been exposed to the complications of a trans person fitting into their new worlds. For this, Will & Harper is a learning tool in addition to playng out as a heartfelt, humane real-life drama.
Even though Will Ferrell is co-lead and his name comes first, he doesn’t hog the attention. The two are comedy specialists but do not turn this documentary into sketch comedy. We aren’t sitting through two jokesters going for big laughs. There are scenes where their dialog is amusing, but more impactful are the scenes where Harper expresses concerns of her new life. She began transitioning at the age of sixty, after a lifetime of undisclosed doubts concerning her assigned gender.
Don’t fault Will Ferrell for putting his name first on the title. We probably would give this film a pass if he didn’t lend his name and presence. Throughout, he allows his friend time and consideration so that her thoughts are well expressed to viewers. Sure there are a few scenes where Will goofs around for a laugh. That’s perfectly acceptable.
As a road film, Will & Harper pleases, but it isn’t outstanding. The big names they encounter occasionally mean very little. The places they go-- a Pacers Game, the Grand Canyon, a roadhouse bar, a Las Vegas casino restaurant, these locations are petty secondary to what’s going on onscreen. There are no moments that are cinematic standouts. It’s the intimate conversations, particularly what Harper has to say and how people react to her, that make Will & Harper worth a viewing.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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