Anchorman:
The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Rated PG13
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate,
and Paul Rudd
Rating:

out
of

|
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is the anchorman for the highest rated local
newscast in San Diego in the 1970s. He's a macho guy with a way with the
ladies. When Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), a female reporter,
threatens to ignore his sexual advances as well as take his job, Burgundy
finds his life turned upside down as he struggles to adapt to the changing
times.
Anchorman:
The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a gonzo comedy that really doesn't
take anything seriously, including its own storyline. Basically, the whole
premise exists to allow low-brow comedy to run amuck for 90 minutes or
so. And, although it's based on the same type of humor as recent movies
as Dodgeball or Old School, it manages to work on some odd, sweet level.
Will Ferrell continues to add to his list of likeable goofball characters.
Even though Ron Burgundy is not immediately a likeable guy, he grows on
you as the movie progresses down its moronic path to conclusion. Ferrell
excels at playing doofuses and Ron Burgundy is certainly the biggest doofus
he's portrayed on film. Many of the biggest laughs, however, belong to
his fellow news team member, Weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell),
who's IQ, we learn, is approximately 40.
Anchorman manages to keep the
laughs coming even when they don't necessarily make any sense. For example,
we learn that Ron plays "jazz flute" when
he's asked to sit in with a band in a scene that is full of physical comedy,
gross sight gags, and a Jethro Tull joke all at once. Add a few surprise
cameos and an over-the-top gang rumble pitting competing newsteams against
each other and you've got a movie that manages to be funny without ever
going completely out-of-control. By staying grounded in its satire of
both the attitudes of the 1970s and media in general, the laughs are more
genuine than most comedies of this type.
Anchorman is probably the funniest comedy I've seen this year. Trivia: The
Mexican restaurant Veronica visits with the girls from the station is
named "Escupimos en su Alimento". In Spanish, that means, "We
spit in your food". (Source: The
Internet Movie Database) |