Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

Could "Anchorman" have been funnier had it been allowed to stretch itself out beyond the two-hour limits of a commercially-minded comedy? Here's a chance for us "Anchorman" lovers to find out.

In "Wake-Up Ron Burgundy", we see San Diego's Channel 4 news team in action once again. Ron (Will Ferrell) struggles with love and jealousy as co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) achieves her dream of big-time success. Meanwhile, their little world is threatened by the emergence of the incompetent but very radical terror cell who calls themselves "The Alarm Clock". When Veronica is captured by this gang, it's up to Ron and his buddies to save the day.

No use getting too excited about that long-discussed "Anchorman" sequel: This is strictly outtakes from the first movie, with some clever editing disguising the fact that Ron and Veronica are meeting here once again for the first time. Better you think of this as an alternate-reality "Anchorman" than a real sequel.

Narrator Bill Kurtis puts it in perspective in his opening narration. What we are about to see, he explains, is "the chaff from the wheat, the skim from the milk, the pudding from the all-you-can-eat lobster buffet, and the surgeon guy from Prince and the Revolution."

What "Wake-Up" really is is a chance to see Ferrell and his co-writer/director Adam McKay working even more of their creepy-funny comedy vibe. Scenes in "Anchorman" could stretch on a bit, but made their point. Here, they stretch on beyond that point, then stretch further.

Ron needs a moment to compose himself on-air while reading a tender story about a Japanese devil owl, then another, and then another. "A lot of emotion here," he says, tearing up.

A creepy mentor figure, Jess Moondragon (Chad Everett) pops up to offer no meaningful advice for Ron, but plenty of lustful rumination on what he'd like to do to Mother Nature - "things you can only do in Bangkok."

Such scenes work as goofier riffs on ideas from the first film, but with a rub. Watching Ron and Veronica's awkward first date a second time isn't so killer with a long sequence showcasing Ron's driving skills replacing his mastery of the jazz flute.

Because it's all outtakes, however skillfully put together, there's story gaps galore and rehashed gags from the first movie with slightly different blocking. The Alarm Clock angle works in bits, but is too thin to serve as a framing device. The character build-up that made "Anchorman" so immersive is shortchanged here. Most of that made the first film.

Fans of Champ Kind (Dave Koechner) will enjoy the wild man acting even wilder here; one moment he's a raving homosexual, five minutes later he's a raging cannibal. Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) lunches on used coffee filters. In addition to Everett (his send-up of the serenely sleazy Moondragon aided by a strong late-career resemblance to Clint Eastwood), there's a brief killer cameo from Stephen Root as a fill-in anchor.

Like I said, it's all sweet stuff if you're an "Anchorman" lover. But it's definitely not the sleeper classic "Anchorman" has become. It's definitely more self-indulgent in its humor and fitful in its direction. "Wake-Up" shows that in addition to being frightfully clever, the people behind "Anchorman" had a lot of sense in where to trim.

This film is definitely worth checking out if you were a fan of the theatrical film "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." This feature seems to be made of cut footage from the first movie, including a complete alternate ending for the original film. In many ways, this second ending makes more sense from a writing standpoint, as many things that are introduced early on in the script (that are funny on their own, don't get me wrong) come back in the dramatic conclusion.

The only flaw in this feature is that it tries to pass itself off a sequel, instead of cut footage, and it doesn't quite work. Then again, if you can suspend your disbelief -- that concept becomes pretty funny, as well.

Chock full of great material from Will Ferrell, this film also gives some more screen time for Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner. Justin Long (Dodgeball) even makes an appearance.

Great stuff... although it starts to raise the question - how much money did they spend on this movie? Enjoy folks!

Goulet.

i loved 'Anchorman' and it took me a long time to find 'Wake up' after i found out there was such a movie. i enjoyed it, although it is really worse than Anchorman, but you should always keep in mind that (the official story) this is a 'movie' compiled of scenes unrealized from the original movie as well as alternative subplots. having this in mind just take it lightly and enjoy it, as there are some genuinely hilarious scenes that will wet your pants with laughter. still 'wake up, Ron burgundy' isn't in a form to be considered a movie on its own, as it only works as a supplement to 'anchorman:the story of Ron burgundy' - just a way of the team to have some more fun filming some crazy ideas, and for the viewers to enjoy The News team some more

i enjoyed it :)

peace

Before seeing this movie, it is a good idea to see Anchorman. At that point, if you have not laughed yourself into a comatose state, then it would be a good time to see this film. From the first few moments watching this, you can see why the footage in this movie was trimmed from Anchorman. Not as funny as that film, the line delivery lacks the 70s-induced obliviousness of the original. What you do see is the main characters of the two movies get deeper into their characterizations, taking them in a slightly different direction from the first film. Some of the scenes in this movie feel out of place with the narration, an element of the film I personally could have done without. This review sounds negative, but what I am listing here are only small gripes with an otherwise acceptable film. Together, Anchorman and Wake Up, Ron Burgundy make one hilarious movie. Without the first, Wake Up Ron Burgundy feels kind of strange.

As I am sure most of you know, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy was compiled completely of deleted scenes and alternate takes. Some are saying it is a sequel to Anchorman, but it feels more like an alternate movie. The same things happen to all the characters, but in different ways. All it took was a narrator to piece together the scenes on the cutting floor and there you have it, another movie!

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy is obviously not as good as Anchorman, due to the fact that most of the best scenes made it into the original movie. However, it is an awesome supplement to the original movie, complete with it's own set of special features. It even has it's own deleted scenes. Considering the movie is all deleted scenes, they must have had a ton of extra footage to pull together a project like this. If the movie had to stand on it's own, I would not rate it very high, but for what it is, I give it about a 6.5/10.