"That's a nice-a donut."

Monday, July 11, 2005


Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a stupid, stupid movie with a mediocre, almost non-existent plot. There is sexism, animal abuse, impromptu singing, Ben Stiller, bad hairstyles and clothing, and pure and utter random nonsense. It is also a darn funny movie, in which Will Ferrell showcases once again why he is one of the better comedic actors in film today.

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is the vain, mustachioed, top-ranked news anchor at the number one news station in San Diego in the 1970s. Life is good for him and the rest of the news team. That is, until the station manager uses that ugly word, "diversity." The problem is, nobody seems to know what diversity is ("it's an old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era"), but a female named Veronica (Christina Applegate) is hired for the team and she becomes an instant hit with audiences. This causes a problem for Ron; don't they know that "it's anchorMAN not anchorLADY, and that is a scientific fact." An escalating war of words ensues and Ron and his crew must either adapt or perish.

Other than Ron, others on the news team are equally hilarious. There is Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), who is a brain dead weatherman with an IQ of 48; I'm not sure if it was intended this way or not, but it's a great riff on the colorful people who report the weather on TV. Champ Kind (David Koechner) is a manly sports anchor that carries a gun and Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) also provides numerous laughs and hijinks as a reporter for the station. Most of the talent does a great job at playing things so matter-of-factly in this farce. Their tongues may be in their cheeks, but they don't show it.

There are also many cameo appearances. Some of them are good (Vince Vaughn, Tim Robbins), though some of them are a little distracting (Jack Black, Ben Stiller). Many of them converge in a great Western-style melee romp in the city streets. The crack newsmen from all of the local affiliates, including PBS and the Spanish station, get into a crazy fisticuffs battle that includes many random weapons. Even Brick, the moron, has a grenade! Things are moved along quite well by a surprisingly good 70s soundtrack.

Still, at some points the movie is a little too over-the-top for its own good. Ferrell is great, and he seems to do comedy so effortlessly, but it can still be annoying when he does his yelling-really-loud shtick. I think it would have been perfect if they had managed to include a reference to Peter Finch's great Howard Beale in Network ("I'm mad as hell..."), but alas we are not that lucky. Also, the film uses some narration, telling the story perhaps as in a documentary. However, the filmmakers seem to forget that they even did this later on, and the narrative technique is not used at all in the second half. In the end, the movie is just another Hollywood story. But, it's a pretty good story. And a funny one, too.

The Verdict: B-.

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