“Will & Harper” (2024). Cast: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Kristin Wiig, Lorne Michaels, Will Forte, Molly Shannon, Gov. Eric Holcomb. Director: Josh Greenbaum. Web site. Trailer.

Friendship is one of those subjects that doesn’t receive nearly enough meaningful attention in the movies. Yet, when we look at its prevalence in life and the many forms it can take, it certainly provides plenty of fodder for engaging storytelling, given that it’s a topic we can all ultimately relate to – and in myriad ways at that. Films that explore unusual and fascinating expressions of this concept are among the most engaging, as seen in a new documentary that examines what it’s like for old friends to get to know one another all over again in a new context. Such is the case in the enlightening and entertaining road trip/buddy movie, “Will & Harper.”

In 1995, an aspiring actor and comedian named Will Ferrell joined the cast of the late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. During the same week Ferrell started, the show hired comedy writer Andrew Steele to join its staff. In no time, Ferrell and Steele became one of SNL’s most dynamic duos. Recognizing his colleague’s talents, Steele wrote considerable material specifically for Ferrell, making him one of the show’s stand-out performers. This professional collaboration subsequently blossomed over the next seven seasons. And, in the process, Ferrell and Steele became good friends.

Ferrell’s success at SNL led to his departure from the show in 2002, launching into a prolific film career that has continued ever since. Meanwhile, Steele remained on the show’s writing staff, eventually becoming head writer, a role he filled for four of his 13 years with the series. But, despite the different paths Ferrell and Steele eventually took, they remained fast friends.

During all that time, however, Steele was harboring an all-consuming secret, one that he shared with no one. In 2020, though, with the onset of the COVID pandemic and the compulsory isolation that came with it, he saw this time of sequestration as an opportunity to explore what he had kept mum about for so many years, all in hopes that he might at last find peace, as well as a way to step forward about it. At that time, Steele entered counseling to consider the possibility of transitioning from being a man to becoming a woman. This was a subject he could never bring himself to open up about previously. However, now that he had the time and requisite seclusion to explore this bold new step, he decided to avail himself of the circumstances. And, in 2022, Andrew formally began the transition to become Harper, at last fulfilling a long-cherished but deeply secretive dream.

After launching into this endeavor, Harper realized that she needed to come out to others about her transition. And so, through lengthy, candid emails that she sent to Ferrell and other longtime friends and colleagues, Harper entered the world as her new self. However, given that Harper had never even hinted about her long-held secret (let alone openly discussed it), her announcement stunned those who knew her (or who thought they knew her). They wondered where this revelation was coming from, considering that she never said a word about it for all those years. So many of them naturally wondered, what would this news mean for the future of their friendships?

For Ferrell, Harper’s email was particularly stunning in light of the depth and tenure of their relationship. Given the closeness that had always existed between them, Ferrell naturally wanted to be as supportive as possible. After all, even though Harper was no longer Andrew, on a fundamental level, this change didn’t alter Ferrell’s profound feelings and admiration for his longtime friend. That consideration aside, though, there was no denying that some aspects of their relationship were nevertheless going to change. But in what ways?

At the same time, Harper also had some concerns of her own, both in terms of the impact on her established friendships and in terms of the new individual she was becoming. She naturally wondered if her old pals would look upon her and interact with her in the same ways as they had before – and, if they were going to be different going forward, how so? In addition, she wondered if she would still be able to engage in some of the same kinds of activities that she freely did when she was a man. Would she feel comfortable pursuing them? Would she, as a transgender woman, be accepted in those environments? Or could participating in those activities or venturing into those venues where she once felt completely at home now threaten her personal safety?

Will and Harper thus had many questions that they needed to answer for themselves, and they decided that the best way to address them would be to do this together. Their solution was to team up for a 16-day cross-country road trip from New York to Los Angeles. This would give them an opportunity to get reacquainted with one another, as well as a chance to get to know each other in this new context. It would be an experience that could help them see what hadn’t changed between them and what was new, both now and as they headed into the future.

With those hopes and intents in mind, the reunited dynamic duo set out on their odyssey across the US. Their journey began in the Big Apple, where they met for breakfast with Harper’s children, followed by a reunion with SNL colleagues Tina Fey, Tim Meadows and Lorne Michaels. From there, they headed south to the Nation’s Capital, followed by a big right turn to the Midwest, where they took in an NBA game in Indianapolis, paid a visit to a transgender advocate in Peoria and made a stop at Harper’s hometown in Iowa. Next came visits to Oklahoma and Texas, with decidedly (and somewhat surprisingly) mixed receptions to their presence. And, finally, from the Lone Star State, they headed west for Los Angeles, with stops at the Grand Canyon, where the travelers engaged in an impromptu and revealing conversation with a former therapist who counseled a prospective transgender patient, and at a remote, now-abandoned house in California that Andrew once owned where he could seclude himself and spend time living his life as a woman in the days before her transition as Harper.

As the film shows, the duo’s journey had its share of light-hearted, fun-filled moments, as if they were two old friends getting together and acting like a couple of goofy kids. It also has a number of emotion-filled sequences wherein Harper and Will allow themselves to show their vulnerability, either in terms of their relationship with one another or in growing comfortable in their own skin. Most importantly, though, the picture tellingly depicts the variable reactions that they received from others, some of them remarkably receptive, others troublingly disturbing. Consequently, this release tellingly illustrates both the progress that we as a nation have made in matters of transgender acceptance and the remaining ground that we have yet to make up. “Will & Harper” thus leaves us all with the question, “Where do we go from here?”

That’s essentially where Will and Harper started from when they launched into this experience. In many ways, it was an exploration of a great unknown but with someone who was seemingly eminently familiar, circumstances that some might see as curiously paradoxical, at least at the outset. But, once they began, they soon found that there were many elements of their friendship that remained very much the same, despite others that had been tweaked and still others that were completely new.

So how did these results arise? In essence, the outcome was a product of their individual and shared beliefs, and it’s important to recognize that given the role that they play in shaping and manifesting the reality they experienced. This is the underlying principle behind the conscious creation process, the philosophy that maintains these intangible resources are responsible for the materialization of our existence. It’s unclear whether either Ferrell or Steele were aware of this way of thinking as their story unfolded, but, considering how events turned out, it’s easy to see how their thoughts, beliefs and intents led to the results they experienced.

Consider the various aspects of this old friendship in a new context. Given the duo’s history, a close bond had developed between them over time, one they both obviously wanted to preserve going forward. On some level, they each must have believed that more had gone right than wrong in their relationship, meaning that it was truly worth maintaining, despite the change in their circumstances, a scenario made possible by mutually held beliefs. Yet, as those skilled in this school of thought are aware, beliefs are malleable, capable of change, adaptation and accommodation. Indeed, if so many elements of their friendship had worked so well for so many years, then certainly there must be much worth saving, with belief adjustments made to make that outcome entirely possible.

From this, it becomes apparent that this goal can be accomplished by drawing upon established commonalities first. Just because someone changes gender doesn’t automatically mean that his or her likes, dislikes, interests, hobbies, outlooks and relationships are necessarily going to be discarded, especially if there are kindred spirits around to engage in and mutually enjoy such pursuits and connections. As illustrated here, Will and Harper were anxious to test the waters in these regards, particularly in light of how many “guy things” they regularly did together in the past. They initially weren’t sure how this might play out, but they soon found that they could still enjoy attending sporting events and visiting dive bars now just as they did for many years.

These mutual interests received considerable belief support from the genuine, heartfelt feelings that Will and Harper held for one another, considerations again driven by their beliefs. They spent many enjoyable, fulfilling years together on the same page in both their friendship activities and their collaborative creative pursuits. When two individuals are that much in sync with one another, what would possess them to capriciously cast such a bond aside, especially if their connection is obviously driven by such a strong bank of belief-based mutual personal affinity? Of course such individuals are going to remain friends. In fact, if they had discovered that the opposite were somehow now true, then one would have to wonder how solid the friendship was to begin with. Indeed, if the relationship had fallen apart, then whatever beliefs that had been in place previously would have been of a very different nature from those that Will and Harper had embraced regardless of the changes in their individual circumstances. The authenticity behind what made them friends was undeniable, and it’s what enabled the relationship to endure. One might even say that this alteration in their situation made them even closer than before, a change that genuinely allowed them to become better friends.

As becomes apparent in the film, beliefs played an important role on an individual level, too, particularly where Harper is concerned. Beyond seeing how her change in circumstances would affect her friendship with Will, she also had an opportunity to discover how these new conditions would impact her relationship with herself, especially her comfort level with being out in public in the kinds of environments she used to frequent as Andrew. Could she still feel at ease attending a sporting event or going into a corner bar as a woman as she once did as a man? Again, this is where beliefs come into play. If she believed she’d be accepted, then she’d be accepted, as she found out much to her surprise when visiting a good ole boy tavern in Oklahoma. But, as Harper discovered, the opposite could also be true, as she found out for herself when having dinner at a Texas steakhouse, a decidedly uncomfortable experience that prompted a flurry of hate speech posts on social media in the wake of her visit. And then there are those instances that yielded mixed results, such as the basketball game she attended in Indianapolis, one of her first highly public and notably tentative outings, where she was warmly welcomed by some spectators but also had an uncomfortable encounter with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, who had just signed into law legislation banning gender-affirming care for the state’s minors, an interaction that hit particularly close to home.

This range of experiences thus reflects beliefs about the mixed reactions that the public holds about the transgender community, both among its constituents and in society at large, a revelation important to us all about where we stand on this issue. In many ways, trans men and women have only recently begun stepping forward more courageously and in greater numbers than in the past, so the community and its members are just now beginning to get a sense of where they stand and their comfort levels, both for themselves and in relation to others. It’s a very fluid and evolving situation, one whose character will undoubtedly continue to change. However, in the meantime, all concerned must bear in mind that their beliefs will play an important role in the direction things go. Fortunately, we have an inspiring, uplifting and enlightening example to draw from in this film, showing us what’s possible in the hope that relationships like those between Will and Harper become more the norm than the exception.

Director Josh Greenbaum has assembled a lively, colorful, earnest account of two old friends seeking to discover if and how they could relate to one another under the conditions of a new paradigm. This Netflix streaming release is a heartfelt celebration of friendship with moments that are touching, emotional, funny, silly and revelatory, presenting a wide range of feelings all wrapped up in one affecting package – not unlike what should happen in the relationships between all longtime pals. It’s indeed comforting to know that, in situations like these, we truly can find a new friend in an old companion, as well as an old friend in a new companion, an examination of how things have evolved while at the same time being fundamentally unchanged. To be sure, just because some things change, that doesn’t mean that everything else necessarily has to follow suit, no matter how dramatic the shift may be. But isn’t that what solid friendships are supposed to be all about?

Copyright © 2024, by Brent Marchant. All rights reserved.