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 story line. Basically, the whole premise exists to allow low-brow comedy to run amok 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 news teams 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.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Buy on Amazon!
