Comedy and compassion drive ‘Will & Harper’

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele hit the road for a deeply personal and often hilarious exploration of identity, change, and lifelong bonds.

By James Verniere/Boston Movie News

They’re “Thelma and Louise” without the death, as someone observes. “Will & Harper” are two old friends who answer the question: What do you do when someone you’ve known and loved for 30 years tells you they’ve transitioned? You go on a road trip, of course. Or at least you do if you’re movie star Will Ferrell and Iowa-born-and-raised, former head writer on “Saturday Night Live” Andrew Steele, who comes out as Harper Steele and has had some top surgery. After loading up Harper’s almost vintage Jeep Grand Wagoneer, complete with fake wooden side panels, they get a sweet send-off from Harper’s daughters at a Greek diner where Ferrell orders the tzatziki. The girls still call Harper “Pop.”

With everything being recorded and filmed by a fly-on-the-wall documentary team, Ferrell admits that his first reaction to Harper’s email was: “This is crazy.” What is not crazy is the idea of taking their audience on a journey with these old friends, whose happiness in each other’s company is unchanged. Director Josh Greenbaum (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar”) appears to let these two show business veterans do their thing. They start in New York City, visiting NBC studios at Rockefeller Plaza, where they made “Saturday Night Live” together, and photos of SNL stars line the walls. Andrew has become Harper’s “dead name.” On I-95, on their way to Washington, D.C., Ferrell asks Harper about the choice of name, and she recalls considering the flirtier alternative “Chandelier,” establishing that the SNL writer still lives, even if “Andrew” does not. Throughout the film, Harper talks about going out in public and seeing what reactions she gets. She laments her “very masculine” face and talks frequently about her safety. Ferrell takes them to a Pacers game in Indiana, where the governor wants to meet Ferrell but has recently signed anti-trans legislation into law.

Will and Harper sit in their cheap camp chairs in a Walmart parking lot. Will smokes an expensive cigar while Harper shows off the variety of Pringles Chips (Fuego?) she has bought.

In Illinois, Will and Harper meet another woman in Peoria, who also transitioned late in life and now works to support others in the transgender community. They meet in a local bar, perform a karaoke version of “I Got You Babe,” and enlist Kristen Wiig to write a song to commemorate their trip.

What makes “Will & Harper,” which often comes across as an LBGTQ variation on those fun “Trip to…” films with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, so powerful is that you have two very talented, expressive, funny, and sensitive persons trying to navigate their way through a gender-affirmation thicket. Their love for one another, deepened and made resonant by shared experience, is profound, and that is what guides them, especially Ferrell when asked how he feels about Harper’s new life. Harper is also extremely articulate and willing to face her fear and darkness.

To the tune of such ditties as Canned Heat’s “Going Up the Country” and Frank Sinatra crooning “Luck Be a Lady,” Will and Harper visit a dive bar with a Confederate flag and crude, anti-Biden sentiment on the walls (everyone smokes inside). Ironically, the two are welcomed and even serenaded by some Native Americans. But in a restaurant in Texas, where Ferrell has been recognized, they face the beastly million eyes of raised smartphones, and Harper inspires some mean-spirited, anti-trans opinions and outright hatred on social platforms.

I’m unsure what to make of a hot air balloon trip with Will Forte in Albuquerque. Date night in Vegas gets weird when Ferrell wears a badly pasted Fu Manchu mustache. But fireworks in the desert and a stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts are cathartic. What are a couple of friends to do when they hit the beach in Santa Monica? See for yourself. “Will & Harper” is a “Road to…” a new place.

‘Will & Harper’

Rating: R for language

Cast: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Where to Watch: Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner Theater. Streaming on Netflix Sept. 27.

Grade: A-