Will Ferrell’s golf show ‘The Hawk’ isn’t up to par: review…
The show is off-putting.
Will Ferrell’s Netflix golf comedy collection, “The Hawk,” is a pale imitation of his earlier work. He’s been all over the place doing outrageous antics to put it up for sale. It’s a disgrace he didn’t seemingly put that effort into ensuring the show wasn’t a dud.
Now streaming, “The Hawk” was co-created by Ferrell, Harper Steele (who was in the documentary “Will & Harper” with him), and Chris Henchy.
Will Ferrell in “The Hawk.” Getty Images for Netflix
Will Ferrell as Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins in “The Hawk.” Getty Images for Netflix
It follows Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins (Ferrell), a professional golfer attempting to launch a late-career comeback, just as his grownup son, Lance (Jimmy Tatro), is upstaging him as golf’s latest star.
Since this is a Ferrell character, Lonnie is a narcissistic buffoon who makes his son’s success all about himself.
It’s a story that may need made for an amusing yet forgettable five-minute “Saturday Night Live” sketch. It’s tedious, as a five-hour collection.
The solid is rounded out by other “SNL” alums, like Molly Shannon as Lonnie’s ex spouse, and Chris Parnell as a golf government. Both make valiant efforts to salvage the show, however their components are too small. Luke Wilson also reveals up as a rival golfer.
Will Ferrell in “The Hawk.” Getty Images for Netflix
Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell in “The Hawk.” Netflix by way of AP
In a grim – and sure unintentional – case of the show getting meta, Lonnie is a personality whose best days are behind him. “The Hawk” makes you marvel if the same could be said of Ferrell.
At the very least, it’s apparent that his expertise are best for a film, not stretched across a ten-episode collection. “The Hawk” is painfully unfunny, and borders on mean-spirited (such as a sequence the place Lonnie is so self-absorbed that he doesn’t care about a buddy’s loss of life).
Not every sports activities show wants to be “Ted Lasso” ranges of ooey-gooey sweetness. But, “The Hawk” isn’t sharp sufficient to be imply comedy (like “Derry Girls,” or “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”).
It tries to attain for the goofy humor of Ferrell’s heyday – however it undermines itself with that streak of nastiness, and an undercooked story.
Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate in 2004’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”
Will Ferrell and Jon Heder in 2007’s “Blades of Glory.” ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Coll
The former “SNL” star peaked in the early ‘oughts, along with his hilarious flicks like “Elf,” “Step Brothers,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”
At the time, his largely millennial viewers was tweens. Now, they’re adults with marriages and mortgages. “The Hawk” feels prefer it was made for center schoolers, twenty years in the past.
Ferrell’s shtick hasn’t grown up together with them (not like Ben Stiller, who developed from that period’s Ferrell-esque motion pictures like “Dodgeball,” to stylish reveals like “Severance,” lately).
Jimmy Tatro in “The Hawk.” Netflix by way of AP
Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”
There can be nothing fallacious with Ferrell sticking to acquainted territory, if “The Hawk” was a laugh-riot. But, it forgets key elements that made his motion pictures work.
His “Anchorman” character, Ron Burgundy, was also a blowhard. It wasn’t an excessive amount of, because the film balanced him with quite a lot of personalities in its ensemble solid. Plus, the jokes have been funnier.
In “The Hawk,” there are under-used aspect characters, and Lonnie’s son, Lance, will get the secondary plot. But he doesn’t hit sufficient different notes as a personality to forestall Lonnie’s narcissism from getting outdated, fast.
Jimmy Tatro, Will Ferrell, and Luke Wilson in “The Hawk.” ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Jimmy Tatro at “The Hawk” premiere at Westwood Regency Village Theater in LA on July 9, 2026. Getty Images for Netflix
Another obtrusive issue is that Ferrell’s film characters had arcs. Even Ron Burgundy skilled a sliver of progress (from being sexist in direction of feminine colleagues to respecting them…in his personal method).
Lonnie has no arc. He learns nothing, and undergoes no change. He goes in circles for a punishingly lengthy ten episodes, like a teen who stole a golf cart with no plan to the place to drive it.
Most of the show consists of Ferrell trotting out his “greatest hits” antics: randomly dancing in a thong, yelling at inappropriate moments, inflicting a scene at a celebration. You would possibly get pleasure from the show in case you like watching him do that stuff, and also you don’t want connective tissue in the story or character.
Will Ferrell in “The Hawk.” ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Will Ferrell at “The Hawk” premiere at Westwood Regency Village Theater in LA on July 9, 2026. Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / BACKGRID
Been there, finished that. He performed related boorish pro-athletes in “Talladega Nights” and “Blades of Glory.” He doesn’t do something in “The Hawk” that he didn’t already do better, 20 years in the past.
Watching “The Hawk” makes you consider all the motion pictures and reveals that used related materials in more attention-grabbing methods. Ferrell’s personal oeuvre is suffering from superior sports activities comedies. “Happy Gilmore” already did the “bad boy of golf” story. This doesn’t add to the concept.
In the latest TV comedy panorama, “Widow’s Bay” was full of silliness, and it was recent the place “The Hawk” is stale.
Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) in “Hacks” was also self-involved, however it labored because the HBO show had stronger writing.
NBC’s “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” is another latest comedy about a pro-athlete attempting to launch a comeback, performed by an “SNL” alum (Tracy Morgan). If you’re hungry for this plot, that’s a a lot funnier watch.
Just like its lead character, “The Hawk” doesn’t appear to notice that it arrived no less than a decade too late, performing for an viewers that outgrew it.
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