Will Ferrells golf show The Hawk isnt up to par: review

The show is off-putting.Will Ferrell’s Netflix golf comedy series, “The Hawk,” is a pale imitation of his earlier work.

He’s been all over the place doing outrageous antics to promote it.It’s a shame he didn’t seemingly put that effort into making sure 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. It follows Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins (Ferrell), a pro golfer trying to launch a late-career comeback, just as his adult 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 might have made for an amusing yet forgettable five-minute “Saturday Night Live” sketch.

It’s tedious, as a five-hour series.The cast is rounded out by other “SNL” alums, like Molly Shannon as Lonnie’s ex wife, and Chris Parnell as a golf executive.Both make valiant efforts to salvage the show, but their parts are too small.

Luke Wilson also shows up as a rival golfer. In a grim – and likely unintentional – case of the show getting meta, Lonnie is a character whose best days are behind him.

“The Hawk” makes you wonder if the same can be said of Ferrell. At the very least, it’s obvious that his skills are best for a movie, not stretched across a ten-episode series.“The Hawk” is painfully unfunny, and borders on mean-spirited (such as a sequence where Lonnie is so self-absorbed that he doesn’t care about a friend’s death). Not every sports show needs to be “Ted Lasso” levels of ooey-gooey sweetness.

But, “The Hawk” isn’t sharp enough to be a good mean comedy (like “Derry Girls,” or “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”). It tries to reach for the goofy humor of Ferrell’s heyday – but it undermines itself with that streak of nastiness, and an undercooke...