Considering the massive overkilled marketing push behind this film, the inspired mix of absurdest humour and sharp satire make Anchorman 2 a genuinely pleasant surprise. The almost 10 years between the first film and this one is worth the wait. While the character of lovable buffoon Ron Burgundy and his outlandish gags and set pieces are finely tuned, it’s the film’s sharp critique of the commodization of modern news which sets the film apart from other money-making franchise ventures, such as 'The Hangover'.
Showing posts with label Adam McKay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam McKay. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 April 2014
Friday, 29 November 2013
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Will Ferrell/Adam McKay's touchstone satire of 1970’s broadcast journalism culture still bristles with some of the most absurd mainstream comedy in recent years. Remarkably most of these gags still land successfully and thus will likely continue to do so in years to come, aligning itself with those timeless classics of the Mel Brooks, ZAZ, Blake Edwards, and Monte Python films of the past.
Friday, 17 December 2010
The Other Guys
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Eva Mendes, Dwaybe Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson
***
By Alan Bacchus
If Step Brothers was the most ridiculous mainstream comedy to be made in the last 10 years (and it IS), then The Other Guys, Adam McKay’s next feature film is certainly the most ridiculous action comedy in a long time.
The fact is, this latest film from the Funny or Die team is a subversive, funny but also frustrating experience. The story of The Other Guys is negligiable – a turnkey cop flick about two pencil pushing policemen who get to go in the field for once and take down a nefarious group of white collar criminals in New York.
Considering how much money is spent on these Adam McKay films, we owe the studio some credit for the fact that these movies appear to be made on the fly without much of a script. While most films, even comedies, start with a script, these films succeed in the ability of its stars Ferrell, Wahlberg and their myriad of talented supporting actors to let loose and free associate comedy in front of their million dollar cameras, lenses, lights and crew.
This is why the special features on these movies are as important as what actually made it to the screen. I couldn’t wait to get to the ‘line-o-rama’ featurette which accompanies all these types of film, including the Judd Apatow produced ones as well. It doesn't disappoint.
All things considered The Other Guys isn’t really that good. Does it even qualify as a movie? Do we care what happens our two heroes in the end? As I write this, I can’t even remember how it ends. Will Ferrell’s character has so very little grounding in either a real world context, or even a Hollywood reality.
Will Ferrell’s captain Gene Mauch starts off as an indentifiable accounting geek who prefers the safety of his desk. His awe and fear of the action cops in his precinct such as the supercops played by Samuel Jackson and Dwayne Johnson is endearing and makes a terrific starting point for a dramatic character. It doesn’t long for this arc to go askew once his backstory is revealed. However ridiculous, Ferrell keeps a straight face in telling us how he befriended a female student on campus at university, ‘helped’ her get dates and acting as a go-between her and the men in exchange for money. ‘You mean you were a pimp?”, says Wahlberg. From there the joke goes off, over the top, into full fledged velvet suit, gold tooth wearing pimping. At this point most of the character established in the opening is lost in favour of this outrageous and extreme characterization.
However inconsistent, it’s all in aid of a good laugh. And few other comedy teams go for it more then McKay and Ferrell. However boring the actual narrative story, we’re constantly on the edge of our seat for the next comic set piece. My favourite might just be Will Ferrell’s freakout at Steve Coogan’s office where he plays bad cop, bad cop instead of good cop, bad cop. Or the wicked funny montage featuring Ferrell and Wahlberg succombing to Coogan’s bribery in the form of Jersey Boys tickets, courtside Knicks seats, even the cucumber water served in the office.
Also, I have to say thank you Adam McKay for casting Michael Keaton, who is sorely neglected and underused in Hollywood these days (Tim Burton, please throw him a bone too).
“The Other Guys” is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Thursday, 27 November 2008
STEP BROTHERS
Step Brothers (2008) dir. Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen
**
Comedy is the most difficult genre to crack. When comedy falls, it falls hard. “Step Brothers” certainly makes a loud noise when it hits the ground. The latest Will Ferrell/Apatow concoction makes “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” look intellectual.
Two 40 something males Dale and Brennan (Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly) who still live at home with their parents find themselves step brothers when their parents get married in their senior years. So the central hook is that the brothers are really old but act like 12 year olds. At the beginning both are protective of their space and it becomes a standoff between the two sulking manboys. The two eventually find common ground and become best pals.
Domestic bliss is interrupted when Dale’s douchebag brother Derek (Adam Scott) visits. His superiority complex causes so much conflict in the house it splits Dale and Brennan again. The final act is devoted to getting the two back together.
The writing credits are assigned to Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Adam McKay the same actor-director team from "Talledega Nights". Clearly this script was hatched over a number of over-work drinks, probably a few cocktail napkins. The resulting finished film feels like 90mins of improvised shenanigans.
Thankfully Mr. Ferrell let go of his uber-confident Anchorman persona and let Reilly take that spotlight. Ferrell’s character Brennan, is a meek and shy wannabe. Against Doback’s (John C. Reilly) commanding posturing and bullying tactics Brennan continually gets beaten down. But it doesn’t stop the inane conflict between the two. Just one example of the key standoffs is over Dale’s drumkit, which is pronounced ‘off bounds’ by Dale. Of course Brennan just can’t help testing it out just to fuck with Dale. It provides one of the many lengthy shouting matches of expletive dialogue, all of which appear to be made up on the spot. Both Reilly and Ferrell are talented folks, but, in cinema, polished-scripted material always triumphs over improv.
While most of everything falls flat, there are two standout scenes which had me laughing hysterically. The first is the sleepwalking scene. The two step-brothers both happen to be chronic sleepwalkers, and one night they both walk out of their beds and walk around like brainless zombies. This was likely improvised and miraculously it’s a brilliant piece of physical comedy. In fact, the boys give us a second sleepwalking scene later in the film, which could have been a deleted scene, but obviously the boys knew they needed another big laugh. The other gut-busting scene is a montage of photographs of Will Ferrell’s character, whose eyes are covered in the ugliest redeye effect imaginable. Silly humour is in the details and unfortunately most of everything else in “Step Brothers” is without these details.
On paper, "Step Brothers" could have been a good film, and although I don't know the details of the production it feels like haste, laziness and maybe a bit of ego drowned this film.
“Step Brothers” is available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
So if you're short on time, just check out the sleepwalking scene here:
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