Minor spoilers for You’re Cordially Invited lie ahead.
Take heart, romantic comedy fans, as the 2025 movie schedule features a newly released title that might just float your boat. You’re Cordially Invited is now available to stream with a Prime Video subscription and, as teased in the trailer, it features all of the madcap shenanigans you would expect from some of the best rom-coms. Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell’s new film even includes a wild scene involving an alligator, which was constructed by the crew. However, it seems the stars had an opportunity to use a real gator.
Nicholas Stoller’s rom-com sees a doting dad and a high-powered Hollywood producer at odds after a wedding venue double-booked ceremonies for the former’s daughter and the latter’s sister. Amid the humorous comedy of errors, Will Ferrell’s Jim ends up in bed with an alligator, which ends up giving him more than he can handle. Reese Witherspoon recently recalled being uncertain as to how Stoller and his crew would choose to proceed with the wild sequence. She then revealed how a proud-sounding man pitched his own gator:
So there’s a scene in the movie where, yeah, Will, – I’m not gonna tell you too much, but there’s an alligator. I mean, you see it in all the trailers and stuff. And we didn’t know [if] they were going to build a fake alligator or if we were just gonna use CGI or something. But then this man from Georgia – we shot in Georgia – came in, and he gave us a videotape. He said [switches to southern accent], ‘I have an alligator. I already have her. Here name’s Lucille, and she’s very docile. I think Mr. Ferrell could wrestle her. You can pull her by the tail. You can shake her like a baby. You can hug her like your mama, and she don’t care… You can go on and get. … It’s up to y’all, y’all can take it or leave it. I don’t care. We got another movie. We gonna do that on the road.’
Well, you have to give the guy credit for shooting his shot for him and Lucille, right? Seriously, though, it’s wild that You’re Cordially Invited’s team was actually presented with the opportunity to shoot with a live alligator. I’d say it’s best that they didn’t, though, considering an obvious fact — it could’ve been very dangerous. During her appearance on The Tonight Show (which was shared to YouTube), Reese Witherspoon also revealed Will Ferrell’s reaction. To put it simply, many of us can probably understand his feelings:
But, anyway, we did not go with the living alligator, because it’s still an alligator. And Will was like, ‘I’m not holding a real alligator.’
What the Anchorman icon was enthusiastic about, however, was the prospect of reuniting with Reese Witherspoon 20 years after they worked together on Saturday Night Live. As the comedian put it, he and his co-star are “the pairing that you didn’t know you needed to see.” The two A-listers seemed to gel quite well on screen and, behind the scenes, Ferrell and Witherspoon dropped a dance video (as part of a social media trend), which went viral. All in all, I loved seeing their chemistry in the film and have enjoyed seeing it amid their press tour as well.
Plenty of other great gags and jokes are present within You’re Cordially Invited, but I’d argue that the alligator scene could be the best among them. And believe me when I say that the lack of a real gator doesn’t take away from it in the slightest. I’m certainly glad the film’s lead actors didn’t have to contend with such a situation. I also hope that whatever gig the Georgia man and the apparently “docile” Lucille had lined up did or will go off without a hitch.
Do yourself a favor and check out the funny and sweet You’re Cordially Invited now on Prime Video. Those who are really looking to tickle their funny bones can also stream the funniest movies starring Will Ferrell as well as the great comedies headlined by Reese Witherspoon.
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