Will Ferrell was filming the Christmas musical comedy “Spirited” in Boston in 2021 when he received an email from an old friend — a writer who had championed Ferrell in his early days at “Saturday Night Live,” and had collaborated with him on a number of outside-the-box projects, including the Spanish-language “Casa de mi Padre” (2012), the Lifetime movie “A Deadly Adoption” (2015) and “Eurovision Song Contest” (2020).
The email read in part: “I’m old now, and as ridiculous and unnecessary as it may seem to report, I’ll be transitioning to live as a woman.”
That old friend’s name is Harper Steele, and she had made the decision to come out in her 50s. While Ferrell was instantly supportive, he had questions for Harper — and she had questions for him — and at Ferrell’s suggestion, they set out for a 16-day road trip across the country, with Harper at the wheel of her rickety but classic wood-paneled Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
Director Josh Greenbaum (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar”) and a camera crew were also along for the ride, filming Ferrell and Steele as they made their way from snow-covered Staatsburg, New York, to the beach at Santa Monica, California, with stops along the way including Washington, D.C.; Iowa City, Iowa; Oklahoma; Texas; Las Vegas, and New Mexico. The result is the warm and funny and touching Netflix documentary “Will & Harper.”
Although this is the antithesis of a fly-on-the-wall chronicle, what with Will Ferrell being WILL FERRELL, it’s still an emotionally honest and deeply moving look at two friends bonding after one of them has found the courage to be her true self. (As Kristen Wiig sings in a little ditty she and Sean Douglas wrote for Harper and Will, “A friend is a friend is a friend, till the end.”)
Harper has long enjoyed taking road trips, hitting honkytonks and greasy diners, and drinking what Will describes as “s- – -ty beer,” but she wonders if she’ll be accepted now. “I love [this country] so much,” she says. “I just don’t know if it loves me back right now.”
The journey includes a stop at 30 Rock, where Harper and Will share hugs and laughs with Lorne Michaels, Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Seth Meyers and Colin Jost, and there’s an interlude in Albuquerque where they take a hot-air balloon ride with Will Forte.
Mostly, though, “Will & Harper” is about the conversations between Ferrell and Steele when they take out lawn chairs and watch the sun set and sip from cans of beer, and their journey across Middle America and the Southwest, with stops at a biker bar and diners and gas stations, an Indiana Pacers game, a dirt race track and the Grand Canyon.
As Harper readily points out, she has the benefit of being with the beloved Will Ferrell (not to mention a camera crew), which surely affected some interactions. Folks are often friendly and supportive, clinking beers with Harper and posing for selfies with her and Ferrell.
Occasionally someone mistakenly calls Harper “sir” or “bro” and is gently corrected. And Ferrell’s penchant for wacky antics sometimes backfires, particularly when he inexplicably dons a Sherlock Holmes costume for a foray into a jam-packed Texas restaurant and attempts to polish off a 72-ounce steak, with Harper sitting across from him. A sea of smartphones emerges, dozens of videos pop on social media — and the bigoted trolls come out in all their ugliness, posting cruel and hateful messages.
There’s also no shortage of laughs. After all, both Harper Steele and Will Ferrell have been professionally hilarious for 30 years. Their banter is fast and funny, with Ferrell sometimes diving into shtick, as when he says if they don’t stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts, the whole trip will be ruined.
Most memorable, though, are the quieter sequences, e.g., when Harper and Will relax in an otherwise unoccupied hotel pool at night and talk about their respective body image concerns. “I think you look great,” says Will, and Harper replies, “Thank you. … I do believe that you really mean that.” These are two old friends, trusting each other, being honest with one another, sharing with one another. It’s just lovely.