"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" stars comedian Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, a San Diego news anchor who has a big moustache. Why does he have a big moustache? Because big moustaches are funny. Why is his name Burgundy? Because Burgundy sounds ridiculous. Who works with Ron? How about a weatherman. Make that a "legally retarded" weatherman who likes lamps. Who else? A sportscaster called Champion. Make his surname Kind. Champion Kind. The dumber the name the better.
The rest of "Anchorman" proceeds along similarly improvisational lines, its cast and crew essentially making ridiculous stuff up as they go along. The film was so loose and improvisational that an entirely new film ("Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie") was assembled from its unused footage. As Farrell and his fellow troupe of comedians embrace absurd non-sequiturs, in which different stupid lines, words and jokes are randomly offered up for each take, the film's director, Adam McKay, found himself confused as to what comedic material to include in his final film.
"Anchorman", whose anarchic tone is undermined by its formulaic plot, works best in its giddily nonsensical sequences, in which characters randomly break into song, combat, walk about with erections or kick dogs off bridges. Elsewhere it works thanks to a long parade of recognisable faces (Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Danny Trejo, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell), most of whom pop up, say wacky stuff and then disappear. The film was a sleeper hit and has become a cult favourite with certain people. Its title - "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" - recalls the titles of famous picturesque novels of the eighteenth and ninth century ("The Adventures of Roderick Random", "The Luck of Barry Lyndon", "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle", "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha"), all of which were downright ridiculous. Ferrell's no Dickens, though. While those novels aim at satire, Ferrell's films salivate over ultra ridiculousness. His characters are big goof-balls, macho men completely unaware of how moronic they really are. "Anchorman's" plot (it's set in the 1970s, when feminism marched into the newsroom) itself deals with a group of men (and a predominately male oriented profession) being "shown up" by a single hard-working, dedicated woman.
In this regard, all the men in the film are posturing, peacocking, competitive idiots who ooze a testosterone infused vapidity. Into their midsts steps Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). She's part of the rising tide of women's liberation, her presence highlighting a blustering, clueless masculinity, and various male misconceptions about women ("Why don't you go back to your home on whore island!", various hilarious deleted jokes about the way men misunderstand menstruation etc). The film's director, Adam McKay, is responsible for the only other political Ferrell flick thus far, "The Other Guys", though both are more interested in broad jokes than satire. Whether one finds this type of humour intolerable or funny depends largely on one's blood alcohol levels.
7.9/10 - Worth two viewings. See "Everything Must Go" and "The Other Guys".
The rest of "Anchorman" proceeds along similarly improvisational lines, its cast and crew essentially making ridiculous stuff up as they go along. The film was so loose and improvisational that an entirely new film ("Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie") was assembled from its unused footage. As Farrell and his fellow troupe of comedians embrace absurd non-sequiturs, in which different stupid lines, words and jokes are randomly offered up for each take, the film's director, Adam McKay, found himself confused as to what comedic material to include in his final film.
"Anchorman", whose anarchic tone is undermined by its formulaic plot, works best in its giddily nonsensical sequences, in which characters randomly break into song, combat, walk about with erections or kick dogs off bridges. Elsewhere it works thanks to a long parade of recognisable faces (Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Danny Trejo, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell), most of whom pop up, say wacky stuff and then disappear. The film was a sleeper hit and has become a cult favourite with certain people. Its title - "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" - recalls the titles of famous picturesque novels of the eighteenth and ninth century ("The Adventures of Roderick Random", "The Luck of Barry Lyndon", "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle", "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha"), all of which were downright ridiculous. Ferrell's no Dickens, though. While those novels aim at satire, Ferrell's films salivate over ultra ridiculousness. His characters are big goof-balls, macho men completely unaware of how moronic they really are. "Anchorman's" plot (it's set in the 1970s, when feminism marched into the newsroom) itself deals with a group of men (and a predominately male oriented profession) being "shown up" by a single hard-working, dedicated woman.
In this regard, all the men in the film are posturing, peacocking, competitive idiots who ooze a testosterone infused vapidity. Into their midsts steps Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). She's part of the rising tide of women's liberation, her presence highlighting a blustering, clueless masculinity, and various male misconceptions about women ("Why don't you go back to your home on whore island!", various hilarious deleted jokes about the way men misunderstand menstruation etc). The film's director, Adam McKay, is responsible for the only other political Ferrell flick thus far, "The Other Guys", though both are more interested in broad jokes than satire. Whether one finds this type of humour intolerable or funny depends largely on one's blood alcohol levels.
7.9/10 - Worth two viewings. See "Everything Must Go" and "The Other Guys".