Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Movie Review:


For the most part Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a continous Saturday Night Live skit filled with comedic improvisation. Will Ferrell again shows that he is a terrific comedic talent, even with faulty and dimwitted material.

Taking place during the 1970’s, Ferrell stars as San Diego’s top rated anchorman Ron Burgundy. He is crude, egotistical, sexually aggressive, but the camera and the public love him even though he is journalistically challenged.

The rest of Ron’s news team are also his best friends, which include the zany field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), the cowboy sports reporter Champ Kind (David Koechner), and the really lost weatherman Brick Tamland (Bruce Almighty’s Steve Carell). Ron and his pals know that they are the best in San Diego and love to brag about it. However, their egos are crushed when their boss (Fred Willard) brings in the beautiful Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) as a reporter for a change in diversity. In the 70’s, it was an all male newsroom, in which women did push through the glass ceiling and become reporters and eventually anchorwomen. Ron attempts to put down and play evil gimmicks on Veronica every chance he gets, but he eventually begins to fall in love with her. Goofy jokes and harsh slapstick humor follow as the film becomes a stage for Ferrell and the rest of the cast to deliver their comedic talents while donning the fashions and hair of the 1970s.

Ferrell co-wrote Anchorman with former Saturday Night Live headwriter Adam McKay, who also makes his directorial debut with the film. The script is full of crude sexual humor with the subplot of a woman breaking through an all-male dominant workplace. There is actually not too much of a script for this film, just a blueprint and some character outlines, because it is obvious that Ferrell and the rest of the cast improvised more than half of the film. Anchorman is reflection of a Saturday Night Live skit that is so stupid that it is actually funny. The jokes go way overboard, especially the degrading of the women and the sex jokes. Anchorman should have been in fact rated R, but trimmings here and there must have gotten the film past the MPAA’s radar. There is a very fake, but cruel scene towards a pet dog and also a grotesque moment of one’s arm getting chopped off. The film is not a brutal comedy, it is just bizarre, ridiculous and really crazy.

The real problems with the film and McKay’s choices are that they are repetitive, tiresome, and just down right cheesy. An example is a horrible animated mixed with live action sequence of Ron and Veronica’s trip “Pleasure Town.” There are still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to go around. Ron Burgundy’s “Son-of-bee sting” and other types of lines are original and most of the other moments that you will laugh at, you feel bad about doing so due to the cruel nature of the film.

After scoring big with Elf, Will Ferrell looks to continue his box office dominance with his creation of Ron Burgundy. Though at times his whining and yelling goes too far, Ferrell still makes the character likeable even though he is a harsh idiot. The former Saturday Night Live regular does not hold back anything in this film and just looking at his appearance is amusing. After stealing some moments in last summer’s Bruce Almighty, Steve Carell is hysterical as the not-so-bright weatherman Brick. Carell has a lot of fun with the role and his balanced delivery makes for an ordinary blockhead character one of the film’s real bright spots. Christina Applegate also fares well as the female journalistic hero of the film, Veronica Corningstone. Surprisingly, Applegate shares effective chemistry with Ferrell, even though he does leave her in the dust at times. The film also has a shrew of funny cameo appearances, including Jack Black, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Vince Vaughn.

Anchorman is an off-the-wall comedy set during a time period that gives the film an extra medium to poke fun at. Though ridiculed with problems and harshness, the film still has an ample amount of funny moments. Anchorman is a great platform to watch the talents of Will Ferrell, but the film is no comedic gem.

Grade: C+

Joseph Tucker

Will Ferrell seems to have emerged as Hollywood’s new king of comedy. The former SNLer’s Christmas blockbuster “Elf” even charmed the most cynical of moviegoers.

His next foray into the silver-screen comedy arena finds Will Ferrell playing a macho-TV-news-anchorman named Ron Burgundy, who is flanked by on-air personalities Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) and Champ Kind (David Koechner).

Their reign atop the TV news arena in the late 1970s San Diego is threatened when smart and devoted newswoman Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) enters their newsroom with aspirations of becoming an anchor herself.

The conflict with Corningstone and rival networks is the core of the film and a lot of the great scenes and jokes come from those encounters. The friction and chemistry between Ferrell and Applegate can be hilarious and brilliant when the direction allows for it.

What is probably the film’s biggest downfall is that it feels and comes off as a 90-min Saturday Night Live skit that has been lifted to the silver screen. Director Adam McKay is a former SNL head writer where he worked a lot of time one-on-one with Ferrell. This relationship is used and helps immensely on developing the character of Burgundy. But I did feel that the director comfort with his on-screen characters lacked when dealing with Applegate and in some ways Ferrell’s anchor cohorts.

Sure we have Will Ferrell who is priceless as his title character Burgundy but the jokes around and away from Ferrell seem quite forced. Steve Carell’s Brick gets a lot of great one-liners which makes him stand out. Paul Rudd’s Fantana is funny but overshadowed by Ferrell and Carell.

What really did it for me was the alley/grudge match between all the news anchors in Chicago. The “Gangs of New York” spoof was a little to much for this viewer and made the film seem to lose its way.

The moments when “Anchorman” is a laugh riot are so unforgettable that a lot of the time you can find yourself stepping away from the comedy’s quagmires unscathed.

(3 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

In the 1970s one man was the face of San Diego News, he was Ron Burgundy (Ferrell). Along with his crack team, roving reporter Brian Fantana (Rudd), sportscaster Champ Kind (Koechner) and weatherman Brick Tamland (Carell), Burgundy ruled the airwaves but this was all about to change. Veronica Corningstone (Applegate) has just transferred to the station with one goal, to become the first female news anchor.

Billed as one of the next big thing in comedy, Hollywood has high hopes for Will Ferrell but can his talent live up to the hype? As Ron Burgundy the answer is yes.

After a number of scene stealing smaller roles and cameos in movies like Old School, Starsky and Hutch, Zoolander and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the ex-Saturday Night Live star got his leading man break with the Christmas movie smash Elf and took that first step into comedy history. With Anchorman he takes another big step by creating a fun, surreal and extremely silly comedy that you just can’t help laughing at.

Filled with nostalgic references to a very different time, Anchorman takes the sexism and male dominated 70s and pushes the humour to the maximum. Here we see what happens when women start to make waves in the newsroom as Ron and his team react to Veronica’s arrival. She goes from sex object, to lover and then to bitter rival all in the space of the movie as Ron tries to come to terms with his feelings and his duty to deliver the news. This confrontation works so well because of the comedic talents of Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate.

Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy is an instant classic comedy character. Filled to the brim with confidence and his own self-importance, Burgundy’s world is thrown into torment when he sets eyes on Veronica. It is Ferrell’s undeniable talent that brings the character to life, making him instantly likeable and extremely funny. Christina Applegate plays the straight girl to Ferrell’s manic creation, as she tries to bring in female sensibility in a childish, male environment but this doesn’t stop her character providing many a laugh. Applegate is a real comedic talent and this should push her into contention for more high profile roles.

An excellent supporting cast and some marvellous cameos backs up the leading pair. Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner excel as Brian Fantana, Brick Tamland and Champ Kind, the key players in Burgundy’s news team. Rudd is excellent as the self-proclaimed ladies man and king of cologne Brian Fantana, as David Koechner as sportscaster Champ Kind, who is a little too infatuated with Ron. Steve Carell almost steals the show as Brick Tamland, the mentally challenged weatherman who has some of the best one-liners in the film. Also keep your eyes open for the numerous star cameos, especially during the hilarious News Team battle sequence.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a very funny movie that hits a lot more times than it misses. While Ferrell and his team might not push the subject as far as it could have gone by selecting not to go too far with the sexism of the era, there are still plenty of laughs to keep everyone amused. The lead story is that Will Ferrell is living up to his own hype and that is good news for comedy fans.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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