Anchorman:
The Legend of Ron Burgandy
reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell & Brian "The Naked Gun" Felts
"Anchorman" is a severely laughable film, but sadly born and pretty shallow as comedies go. I am
not from San Diego. I have no clue even how close the picture was to depicting an actual Ron
Burgundy, if there was one. None-the-less, the picture was intriguing.
However, without certain performances in this film, this would have probably received
a far worse rating from this viewer.
"Anchorman" follows the height of Ron Burgandy's career, a San Diego television news anchorman
during the 1970's. Burgandy is depicted as the number one celebrity in the southern California
city, along with his news team Brian Fontana, the field reporter, Champ Kind, the sports
reporter, and Brick Tamland, the inept weatherman.
The broadcast reaches number one status in the ratings, but is thrown into turmoil behind the
scenes when Veronica Corningstone is brought on as a reporter. In an age when not many women
worked in front of the television news camera, the boys of the news team gang up against her,
both in the office and on the air.
After an unusual series of events for Burgandy, Corningstone jumps into his role as anchor
for one broadcast and the station's higher ups decide she will co-anchor with Burgandy from
then on. The games continue on a new level, especially after Burgandy and Corningstone
develop a love affair, which underscores their on air dislike for each other.
Will Ferrell (Elf) gives his Burgandy character a delirious portrayal, while
Christina Applegate (TV's Married with Children) offers one of her better comedic performances
as the bright and determined Corningstone.
However, Steve Carell (Bruce Almighty) who plays Brick the weather guy, is hands down responsible for most of the
picture's big laughs. The character is established, by his own words, as having an IQ of 48 and
later deemed mentally challenged. His performance is well worth the price of admission, similar
to a nine year old boy playing in his father's clothes.
"Anchorman" is a barrel of both mature and immature laughs at any given moment in the film.
However, the story is not as strong as its gags. Character performances were as well developed
as such a film could be, thus making the overall picture entertaining.
In addition, the movie is littered with cameo appearances from such celebrities as Jack Black (Shallow Hal),
Vince Vaughn (Starsky and Hutch), Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption), Luke Wilson (Legally Blonde) and
Ben Stiller (Along Came Polly), most of which appear during a street
rumble between five rival San Diego new teams. This was one of the picture's most hilarious
sequences. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
I am quite happy that Benn got to the review before I did, because I was at the theater with him.
When the movie was over, I was blinded by two beautiful women walking down from the higher seats,
and as a result, I fell down a set of stairs exiting the theater; gave myself a rug burn. Since my head
butted the carpet/concrete floor, I had a headache for two days. I think I had a small concussion.
So, from what I remember of this movie, I liked it a lot.
I thought the cast was solid all around. I particularly liked Will Ferrell and Steve Carell.
Ferrell has become quite a good comedic actor, and I think he has made great strides in his
work since leaving "Saturday Night Live," unlike David Spade, Chris Kattan and Jon Lovitz.
Carell, who was Evan Baxter in "Bruce Almighty," did an excellent job as weatherman Brick
Tamland. Other actors did an admirable job, except for Applegate, who has yet to find her
role in movies post "Married with Children."
The story was okay, but you can tell two SNL guys wrote the script. Some parts do seem like
a bad "Weekend Update" skit. Adam McKay, who has directed SNL shows, did a good job in his first
shot at the movies.
The movie is good. Leave your brain at home, and you will have a good time. Brian - the Naked Gun
When I saw the first preview of "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," I thought the picture
would be sadly born with a few laughs. Upon seeing the second trailer, I found myself
busting out in laughter for several more highlights not shown in the first. Finally, when I saw
the picture, I realized I was right on both ends.