Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" takes us back to those halcyon days of the 1970's, when the hair was as big as the lapels and women were just beginning to assume their rightful place in America's television newsrooms.

Will Ferrell plays a Ted Baxter-type anchorman (is it mere coincidence that his dog is named Baxter?) - vain, narcissistic, none too gifted in the brains department - who has worked for years as the sole news dispenser at a top-rated San Diego station. All is going well for Ron Burgundy until the station manager decides the newscast needs a bit more "diversity" and hires a female reporter named Veronica Cornerstone (Christina Applegate) to come on board. Cornerstone is a brainy, blow-dried blonde with a driving ambition to be the first female anchor on network news. Since most of the men who work at the station, including Burgundy, are dyed-in-the-wool misogynists, Ms. Cornerstone faces an uphill battle of sexist comments, schoolboy pranks, and subtle (and not so subtle) undermining as she climbs her way to the top (though she is not above pulling a few dirty tricks herself to get what she wants). Things really get dicey when Burgundy and Cornerstone begin dating and quickly fall in love, a situation rife with potential disaster as Cornerstone begins to encroach on Burgundy's professional territory.

"Anchorman" is a light-hearted, enjoyable little comedy that, unlike a full-throated satire (say, like "Network"), often goes for the easy laugh instead of the incisive barb. The movie is at its best when it is parodying the corny graphics and the tendency to over hype the trivial ("Panda Watch: Day 46") that define modern newscasts - and at its worst when it is indulging in silly, often scatological jokes and slapstick throw away bits. Like most mainstream comedies, the humor in "Anchorman" ranges from the mildly funny to the downright hilarious, the latter including a clever "West Side Story" parody involving a rumble between rival news teams, and a conversation between a dog and a bear that ends the movie on a ludicrous but knee-slapping high note.

Ferrell (who co-wrote the film) is his usual manic self, unctuous but likable, and Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and Fred Willard do fine work in supporting roles. Moreover, writer/director Adam McKay provides a smattering of guest appearances from such well known stars as Jack Black, Luke Wilson, Tim Robbins, Vince Vaughn, Jerry Stiller and even Ben Stiller, many of who are not listed in the official credits.

"Anchorman" goes down easily - a bit too easily, perhaps, for a film that, with a little more courage, might have become a scathing satire on an industry that could do with a little merciless skewering right about now. Still, "Anchorman" is fun while it lasts - and these days we'll settle for what we can get when it comes to laughs.

Apart from spawning multiple memes over the years, this movie also got quite a few laughs out of me. The comedy isn't what you'd call 'high brow' but that's because it's aimed at the 'immature kid' in all of us, and that's why it makes us laugh. "Anchorman 2" was a huge disappointment and I wouldn't recommend that you watch that at all.... Just watch the original and appreciate how good it is.

This summer I've seen several intentionally stupid funny movies, and enjoyed them. Adam McKay's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" is no exception. Seems that my taste for high concept cinema has been influenced by the summer-- well not really. This movie written by McKay and it's star Will Ferrell is an outrageous and completely over the top comedy. Applaud Will Ferrell as the mind bendingly stupid and self absorbed, San Diego newscaster, Ron Burgundy. Will Ferrell is genius in playing Ron straight without character dispersions. Ferrell creates a great deadpan sense with his cohabiting dog, Baxter, and the fact that his character Ron Burgundy will read ANYTHING on the teleprompter, his tragic flaw, well at least one of several, is priceless. Ferrell also never crosses the line of being a complete jerk which is an amazing accomplishment. In fact, Ferrell gives Ron a muted charm-- he really does grow on you.

Basically, "Anchorman" is an extended sitcom. Ron is informed by his station manager, Ed (a funny Fred Willard), that he will have a co-anchor, Veronica Corningstone (a hot Christina Applegate). Turns out that Veronica was a woman whom was immune to Ron's vast charm at a wild news crew party. Veronica is beautiful, ambitious, and smart. She too has aspirations of being a Network Anchor. The Boys Club news crew which include sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), feature story guy Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), and the dumb as a post weatherman Brick Tamland (Steven Carell) all make their play for Veronica. However, she falls for Ron in spite of himself. Ron eventually woos her affections in a totally wacky jazz flute display. The screen writing is so skewed in a good way, and it has absolutely no shame. There is a classic scene with Ron's dog Baxter, and a bridge that according to my bud, John, shatters a fundamental script writing rule. In another memorable scene Ron gives an erroneous translation of the name San Diego to Veronica that is hilarious. "Anchorman" also benefits from cameos of talented actors, most notably Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth, the rival station anchor. Christina Applegate looks great, and truly has a talent for comedy.

"Anchorman" is completely over the top, and ignores any boundaries. That really makes it work. "Anchorman" is broad stroke farce done well. Will Ferrell demonstrates great comedic gifts. I want to see what he creates next. For now, "Anchorman" is just great fun, and very funny stuff.

I went to "Anchorman" expecting another super-mainstream, lowest-common-denominator, SNL-derived romp. Now, these aren't the worst movies in the world, to be sure. "Happy Gilmore" and "Old School" are pretty agreeable ways to while away the time. But usually about an hour in to these affairs, I've had enough of the broadness and predictability, which starts to get downright oppressive. It's not just that they're lowbrow--it's that they're so overwhelmingly, disappointingly conventional.

Luckily, this isn't what "Anchorman" is. "Anchorman" is a refreshingly off-kilter outing from an unlikely source--Will Ferrell, the current reigning lord of middle-of-the-road fratboy Sandlerism. The film has a lot more in common with Mel Brooks and Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker than anything in the SNL family tree. It prizes out-and-out silliness and absurdity over bathroom humor and penis jokes (though there's plenty of the latter, don't worry), and pulls it off admirably. In essence, the key to this stuff is never letting off of the goofiness even for a second--the audience should never be allowed to take anything seriously.

"Anchorman" achieves this with exceedingly silly and bizarre dialogue complemented by killer comic performances from Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Vince Vaughn and Steve Carrel. You'd have to be lobotomized to maintain a straight face through lines like "It's made with bits of real panther. So you know it's good." and "I'm riding a big, furry tractor!" The direction and pacing are also pretty solid at times, and the requisite celeb cameos are very nicely done (especially in one particular scene which I wouldn't dream of ruining).

The film's not without its flaws, certainly. Chief among them is the wasting of one of the best comic character actors in the biz: Fred Willard. If ever there was someone born to play a smarmy local TV newsman, Willard is it. But he's inexplicably cast here as a dull station suit, while David Koechner plods through the sportscaster role that was clearly meant for him--passable but certainly not as inspired as Willard would have been. Also, I think that the story would have benefited if Vaughn and his cronies, the closest thing to villains in this lightheaded romp, had a little more face time.

But these are comparatively minor problems--the point is that Ferrel has given us something that's really funny in a way that's appreciably different from the endless SNL movie-mill. It's not Monty Python, but it is a healthy departure from what has become the comic mainstream. Most importantly, the laughs are frequent, long, and deep--check it out and you won't be disappointed.

I had been avoiding myself from watching 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' for a long time because I thought that it would be another one of those wannabe non-funny comedies. I liked Ferrell a lot in comedies like 'Legally Blonde' and 'Stranger Than Fiction' where he really downplays the humour but I saw some of his Saturday Night Live sketches and many were plain awful. Anyway, I later found out that the cast also included Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd and Steve Carell and so I was curious to how Ferrell works with these talented comedy actors.

So that's that and now, after having seen it, I must add that 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' is a laugh riot. It superbly spoofs the 70s. Adam McKay brings together an excellent comedic cast playing colourful characters. Ferrell and Applegate are at the centre of the film and both are stupendous! But the supporting cast that includes David Koechner as a 'macho' wannabe who's actually a closet homosexual, Paul Rudd as a virgin stud, Steven Carell as a mentally stunted weatherman and Fred Willard as the laid back boss equally stand out with their gags and superb comic timing. Just when I was thinking that it would be funny if Vince Vaughn was part of the cast, he appears on screen as the 'deadly' rival. There are also notable cameos by a psychopathic Tim Robbins, a Hispanic Ben Stiller, an armless Luke Wilson and Jack Black as a cruel junkie.

I'd recommend to watch the movie with English subtitles as there are some hilarious lines between Burgundy's dog and a bear which is spoken in animal language. There are so many more laugh-out-loud moments that it's hard for me to single out a particular scene. Which one shall I say? The scene where he plays the flute to impress Veronica, Veronica screaming 'Ron!' (in typical 70's melodramatic style) when he gets fired, the entire bear awakening sequence, the battle between the anchormen, Veronica challenging Ed with her three strengths: screwing, fighting and news-reading ....there's just too many.

While being an out-and-out comedy, it does bring forth some serious issues like gender equality (which was still a problem in the 70s). Though the undertone is serious, it's all presented in a comedic way but it never makes fun of the issue. For example, Veronica is continuously harassed by her male co-workers but she stays strong without succumbing to their rudeness.

'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' is a joyride all the way. Whether one likes the film or not, I'm sure they at least would have a good laugh.