Anchorman - La leggenda di Ron Burgundy

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a completely ridiculous, yet very hilarious movie. There are so many quotable lines in this movie that even if you haven't seen it, you've probably heard many of the jokes already. It's a great balance between situational comedy and absolute absurdity. Plus, there's even some actual story mixed in with the humor. This is one Will Ferrell movie that I think hits the comedy nail right on the head.

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.

"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.

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

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.