Will & Harper (2024) review

Actor Will Ferrell receives an email from his old friend Andrew Steele, a writer at Saturday Night Live, telling him that he has transitioned to a female named Harper so, like all good pals should do, he lends her his support and the two of them go on a road trip from New York City to California in order to properly "bond," discuss what it means to be a trans-woman and, naturally, encounter supporters and a couple of bigots (who are active on social media).  The subject is timely - treating others with respect and dignity is important - although what's shown here feels sanctimonious, considering those willing to watch it are most likely already progressive: there's gratuitous "uplifting music" (as well as moody songs such as "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star and "Holocene" by Bon Iver), neither of them are ever in any real danger because Ferrell is famous and Harper is always surrounded by a camera crew (even the yokels won't verbally or physically attack her knowing they're being recorded) and Greenbaum can't resist including multiple scenes of both his subjects tearing up.  Based on a few comments I skimmed through, the trans crowd seems to appreciate the effort (which is nice) ... but it's more effective at reminding me I need to make a run to Dunkin' Donuts for a French Cruller than convincing the ding-a-lings that certain people don't feel that they were born in the correct body.