Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Reviews

• This absurd comedy had to convince me...and somehow it did

  MaxJSteele2006-01-23

  When Anchorman came into theaters, I avoided it like a dead sewer rat. When it came onto HBO, I pretended it didn't exist. In fact, I would not have even LOOKED at it had my remote control not stuck on the stupid channel. So I watched a few minutes. I didn't laugh. I wasn't surprised. Then one day, surfing the premium movie channels, I was thoroughly unimpressed by the offerings. So I turned on Anchorman, about 5 minutes in. For the next hour and a half, I proceeded to laugh hysterically. Scene after scene, line after line, I found new reasons to laugh. By the end, I could hardly breathe. Unconvinced that I had stumbled upon a a re-watchable movie, I tested and retested it over and over. And over. Result confirmed. Anchorman tells a simple story: acclaimed (and consequently arrogant) news anchor Ron Burgundy is forced to adapt when an attractive new female member of the Channel 4 news team (Applegate) begins changing the way he and his quirky news team work. That's it. This story is predictable, prescription-esquire, boring. But Anchorman does not draw it's strength from story. It draws from the hilarious situations. It draws from randomness. It draws from brief--but memorable--cameos. It draws from those 100 or so unforgettable one-liners. That is, if you're looking for cinema, for a fine work of craftsmanship, a eloquent script, and an Oscar nomination, go watch a FILM. If you find randomness hilarious, then watch this MOVIE.

• The perfected art of being stupid

  Derek2372005-03-09

  In a year packed with comedies that were all a bit stupid and silly (and all seemed to feature Ben Stiller), Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy reigns supreme above them all. This is a movie that is well aware of its own stupidity, and best of all, it is able to embrace it skillfully so that it is exactly as silly and immature as it wants to be. It is such a great comedy; I'd consider it the Naked Gun of our generation. As apposed to many, many, other comedies, Anchorman actually gets better as it moves along. Most of the time a comedy like this will use up all the laughs in the first hour and then try to take a serious, lovey-dovey turn in the last act. There are more laughs in the last half hour than in the first half hour, which usually is never the case. It's as if there was some mathematical comedic formula that spread the laughs out in a way that it was consistently funny. Or, maybe they just got lucky. I dunno. I loved all the characters in the movie, every role no matter how small had a great moment or two. Will Ferrel of course, the star of the movie who is just perfect as Ron. He's so so funny 'cause he's such a lovable idiot. Even Christina Appelgate, who was in a role that quite honestly anyone could have done, is able to make it her own and provide some laughs. There is a scene that has a lot of cameos that was hilarious as well. It was one of those moments that takes you completely by surprise. So, what else can I say except that I loved Anchorman! It's the best "stupid" comedy I've seen in years. This is Will Ferrel at his best and it will be hard to top. My rating: 9/10

• Funny Anchorman

  jon.h.ochiai2004-07-13

  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.

• Wow, that was bad (very slight spoiler).

  Oneiric2004-07-17

  My expectations were low. I've liked Will Ferrell's brand of soft-edged mania well enough in the past, but not enough to go see a movie just because he's in it. I went because I remember San Diego in the 1970's, and even the network news in that sleepy city in that era. As I say, my expectations were low, and I was still very disappointed. I realize it's the 14-year-old inside this was aimed at, not my 41-year-old outside -- but I know a lot of teenagers, and none of them are stupid enough to enjoy this. The script was atrocious, even when you're not bothering to score for plot. Most of the jokes and set pieces were lame -- even "Afternoon Delight" fell flat. The performances were no better. Will Farrell was not much more than present. I've seen him show more heart in SNL sketches, or even as the cop on the trail in the Jay and Silent Bob movie. Fred Willard, so brilliant in Best in Show, looked sad and tired. Most strangely, the comedy casting at the center was deeply flawed. Two of the three sidekicks were worthless: just...not...funny. Not even for one second. Steve Carell was funny, or at least absurd, for about five seconds. You know you're watching a bad movie when the senseless cameos and animal dialogs are the only things you can summon up as enjoyable memories. Waste no money or time on this turkey!

• Insipid, man

  ellyphunt2005-01-25

  I was never as excited about this movie as my boyfriend was, mostly because I chalk Will Ferrell's humor up to the level of fratboy hijinx, sex jokes, and toilet humor. But I was willing to chill on the couch and watch the hour and a half comedy. I liked him okay on SNL, and I was mildly amused my Old School. I thought it would be a nice way to relax on a Monday night. And relax I did...almost to the point of falling asleep. Not only were the jokes not funny, there were so few of them. Long periods of boring-ness separated the gags, which included, and I still cannot believe this, Will Farrell and Christina Applegate riding around on animated unicorns, Paul Rudd spraying on cologne that contained chunks of raw meat (panther), Luke Wilson getting his arm chopped off (not even worthy of the Monty Python memory it conjures up), and Will Farrell ACTUALLY EATING A PIECE OF FECES. Have we come to this? Is this what's supposed to make us laugh now? Even the most quotable line from the movie, which the men in my life will not stop repeating, is "you smell like big foot's dick." Even that just isn't funny. (note: watch Napoleon Dynamite if you want some real quotable material.) The only redeeming qualities of the movie are Steven Carell and Jack Black's brief scene with Baxter, the dog. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. "Biker...Punted...Baxter" Save your time and your money on this one. I sure am glad I didn't have to pay to see it...