The Landlord (2007 film)

The Landlord
The Landlord
Directed by	Adam McKay; Drew Antzis
Written by	Adam McKay; Will Ferrell
Starring	Will Ferrell; Pearl McKay; Adam McKay
Cinematography	Drew Antzis
Edited by	Drew Antzis
Distributed by	Funny or Die
Release date	April 17, 2007;
Running time	2:24 minutes
Language	English

The Landlord is a 2007 short comedy film starring Will Ferrell, Pearl McKay, and featuring Adam McKay.

Plot

In the film, Ferrell's character is harassed by his landlord for overdue rent money. The landlord is a two-year-old girl (played by McKay's daughter, Pearl) who dresses as a princess, swears at her tenant and is finally calmed by taking Will's beer.

Cast

Will Ferrell as Renter
Adam McKay as Friend
Pearl McKay as Pearl The Landlord

Production

The film was directed by Adam McKay and Drew Antzis and written by Ferrell and McKay.

Release

The film premiered on April 17, 2007 on Ferrell and McKay's video website, Funny or Die. Since its debut, the video has been viewed more than 80 million times, and is a "Chosen One" meaning it was never rated by Funny or Die members.^[1] Shortly after, a short film featuring outtakes from the movie premiered.

Reception

In 2007 the Guy's Choice Awards, presented by Spike TV, voted The Landlord "Most Viral Video." Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "The only thing funnier than a foulmouthed 2-year-old? A foulmouthed 2-year-old named Pearl berating Will Ferrell on FunnyOrDie.com."^[2]

Good Cop, Baby Cop

In June 2007, Pearl McKay and Will Ferrell reunited for Good Cop, Baby Cop in which McKay plays a tough police officer who forces Ferrell to sign a confession and smacks Ferrell in the face with a phone and a phone book. This was announced to be Pearl McKay's final performance.^[3]

In popular culture

In 2014's Boyhood, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), is seen watching the clip on the Funny or Die website in 2007, when the clip came out.^[4]

A brief clip of the video can be seen in The Big Short, also directed by McKay.

References

^ "FunnyOrDie.com
^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
^ "Good Cop, Baby Cop" (Flash Video). Funny or Die. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
^ Zuckerman, Esther (July 10, 2014). "Talking About the Nostalgia of 'Boyhood' with its Star, Ellar Coltrane". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 21, 2017.