Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy | | Cast : | Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell | | Director : | Adam McKay | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | July 09, 2004 | | DVD Released Date : | May 24, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | September 04, 2005 | | Summary | A constrained Will Farrell is a funny Will Farrell | Content
 | It occured to me after watching this film that Will Farrell is probably a great comedian because he says SO much that some of it is bound to be funny. It is then up to his directors and editors to trim out what doesn't work and leave in the good parts. For the most part, they succeed in Anchorman - the Legend of Ron Burgandy. Both Farrell and his male castmates embody their stereotypical parts. The actors bring enough new life to the stereotypes that we immediately recognise the characters, while still being able to surprise and entertain (rather than bore) us. Christina Applegate has the unenviable task of being the "straight man," but pulls it off and even gets some great comedic moments herself. She is, I think, the key to making the film work - a central realism around which the waves of absurdity crash - much like Graham Chapman in the Monty Python movies.
No, I don't mean to say that Anchorman is a ground-breaking or paradigm-shifting film - it is not Monty Python, Airplane, or There's Something About Mary. At best, it's a minor comedy, but there are more laughs in it than in the entire Adam Sandler catalogue. Or, for that matter, in all of Will Ferrell's SNL skits (the Jeopardy parodies excepted, of course). The story: The four stooges of Channel 4's news team - the top 6-o'clock news show in San Diego! - are threatened when the station manager chooses to hire a woman reporter. Instead of the expected story arc - they try to make her life intolerable but she eventually wins them over with her pluck - we get a weird conglomeration (and, oddly, more realistic) of macho chest-thumping and competition over who can bed her. It is not until she has the audacity to fill in for Ron as anchor when he is unavoidably detained by a littering incident that the animosity breaks out into full-scale gender war.
For someone to appreciate the film from a review like this normally requires quoting jokes. The great thing about the jokes in this film is that the funniest ones are not one-liners appropriate for TV spots. Instead, they are longer, situation-driven banter that builds. When the film strays from this pattern into going for the cheap laugh (and, I suspect, ad libs), the film slows into inanity (like some of Farrell's other pictures e.g. Old School).
The director's comentary included on this "unrated" DVD version seems to confirm the point. Because it is unrated, commentators Farrell and director McKay think it would be funny to see who can come up with the most offensive words to say to see if they get beeped. That in itself might be a little funny or at least educational if there was some buildup. Instead they go on for 10 minutes in a game of 1-upmanship that is not funny because they are, in fact, beeped, and because it goes on and on (and on and on..... you get the idea). The other special features are more enjoyable, including some out-takes (but not too many of the type where the actors start laughing, thank goodness) and a long list of deleted and/or alternate scenes. There are some interesting choices in there, and a discussion on why certain performances were used instead of others would have made an interesting DVD commentary. Too bad we get the swear factory instead. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 04, 2005 | | Summary | Horrible | Content
| I suggest not even renting this one...such a disappointment.
All I can say is this is a bad bad movie!!!! |
| Rating | | | Date | September 04, 2005 | | Summary | more a pleasant parody than a biting satire | Content
| ***1/2
"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. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 31, 2005 | | Summary | His funniest. | Content
| Wow. What a great supporting cast to the already hilarious Will Ferrel, my favorite actor. He plays the role of a news anchor with his Channel 4 News Team. Vince Vaughn plays an opposing anchorman who hates him. Ron Burgundy's (Ferrel) crew consists of possibly the man who plays the funniest role in the film. "Brick" says the most stupidest things at the weirdest times in a dull eery manner and it is just incredibly funny. When "Veronica Chapman" comes to the news team, Ron and her fall in love and start a instant relationship. But when Ron throws a burrito out of his car window, everything changes, just like he states in the movie at that very part. Veronica takes his place as the main anchor that night and starts being more appreciated all over San Diego at that point on. Her and Ron break up and his life turns upside down. Until a sudden emrgency comes up and he's once again needed by his former boss. This movie is as funny as it gets. Not so much the center point. But more of the timing of the senseless punchlines and meaningless jokes. Definitely worth buying. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 30, 2005 | | Summary | This movie must be seen more than once to appreciate. | Content
| The title of my review says it all. The first time I saw this film I passed it off as childish and ridiculous. I thought Adam Sandler was over-the-top and childish, but Will Ferrell takes the cake. The jokes are very twisted in this film, but the storyline is well narrated and the characters are well developed. Ferrell did a decent number on this one.
Steve Carroll's character was one of the funniest. It was bizarre characters like Carroll's which made the movie so funny. Vince Vaughn did well in his role. Ben Stiller's appearance was most confusing, but the fighting scene is a riot (get it, haha? bad joke). I don't know how the movie could have been written or acted better. Maybe the dopey and immature Adam Sandler should take a hint from this film, grow up, and write something similar. Lately, Sandler's films have been stupid and trashy, but Will Ferrell has emerged onto the moviemaking scene and is now one of the U.S.'s fastest rising movie comedians. Two thumbs up, Ferrell. Keep the movies cranking. |
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