Is Will Ferrell's new film racist? Comedy Get Hard sparks controversy at SXSW screening
- Will Ferrell plays a white financial guru who is jailed for 10 years for fraud
- Kevin Hart plays the only black person Ferrell's character knows
- Ferrell approaches Hart for 'training' on how to survive a prison term
- Critics have blasted the movie for its racism and homophobia
- Writer and director Etan Cohen defended the film saying it is a satire
Will Ferrell's new comedy Get Hard has been branded both racist and homophobic by critics as it deals with a rich white man who is sent to the terrifying San Quentin prison for 10 years.
Ferrell's character approaches the only black man he knows, played by the comedian Kevin Hart, to help him prepare for life behind bars.
The movie had its debut at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and is directed by Etan Cohen.
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Critics have branded Get Hard starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart as racist and homophobic
Will Ferrell plays James King, a one-percenter who is facing a 10-year jail term in San Quentin prison
Ferrell approaches Kevin Hart's character for advice on how to get 'hard' in advance of his prison committal
Several of those who watched the movie were disgusted by what they saw.
One man addressing a question-and-answer session following the screening reportedly told Mr Cohen, who also wrote the film: 'As a fellow Jew, I've got to say that this film seemed as racist as f***.'
The movie is due for release on March 27 on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Mr Cohen responded that he had shown the film to a number of test audiences around the same time as black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a police.
Mr Cohen defended his movie claiming the racial humor in the work was 'a delicate balance to find... It was hard to modulate... how far to push it.'
Ferrell plays James King, who is being jailed for ten years over dodgy financial dealings.
Several critics blasted the movie over the stereotypical way it treated the various races behind bars
Others attacked the movie for the way it depicted gay sex and dealt with the issue of prison rape
King offers Hart's character Darnell Lewis cash to open a new car wash business if he can teach him how to be tough before entering the prison.
The film pokes fun at so-called one-percenters as well as the stereotypes of black men, latinos and white supremacists who are all behind bars.
Justin Chang of Variety blasted the movie claiming it had 'some of the ugliest gay-panic humour to befoul a studio release in recent memory'.
In one scene, King tries to accost a gay man in a public toilet and offers to perform a sex act on him to prepare himself for life in prison.
Drew McWeeny of Hitfix.com said the film was 'morally repellent' by playing 'into this idea that gay sex is somehow inherently more disgusting than regular sex'.
Before the screening, Hart told people who enjoyed the movie to review it on Twitter afterwards, however, those who hated it should 'go in the middle of the street and kill yourself'.
Ferrell said he did not use Twitter and asked people to send him 'handwritten notes ... on nice stationery'.
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