Review: Anchorman

"Anchorman" by Cinemaddiction

Synopsis:

It's the 70's, and it's a Man's world. Ron Burgundy is the stuff of legend, as San Diego's most popular newscaster. However, "Papa Burgundy" is about to meet his match in Veronica Corningstone, a domineering female anchorwoman.

With a little help from his friends, the aptly named Brick, the machismo oozing Brian, and an overly emotional sportscaster in Champ, Ron sets out to keep the woman out of the workplace. As his luck would have it, Veronica falls for Ron's charm, ignoring his self absorbtion. But, after missing a newscast, thanks to an encounter with some rival news teams, headed up in cameos respectively by Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and Tim Robbins, Corningstone takes his ball, and runs with it. Thanks to a little bit of hilarious sabotage, The Divine Ms. C gets the scoop she's been dreaming of. HEAD ANCHOR.

A bitter rivalry ensues, which in the end, becomes one of Corningstone's biggest regrets. Down and out, and in a hilarious sequence of events, sometimes shocking, Burgundy finds himself in "a glass case of emotion". On the day of one of the biggest news stories of the year, Veronica faces one "bear" of an encounter, which jeopardizes Channel 4's coverage, on which all of San Diego is depending on. The birth of a baby panda bear. Like Spider-Man, Superman, and countless other heroes, the call goes out to Burgundy, whom we find unshaven, and boisterously incoherent in a local pub, run by the easily recognizable Danny Trejo.

Burgundy comes to the rescue, saves the girl, the day, his relationship, and his career! In the end, all is well, and both are on top of the world..news, that is.

Pros:

It's Will Ferrell, in character. Much like Ben Stiller, Ferrell's character acting very rarely fails. He plays the perfect 70's anchorman, classy, charming, cunning, and totally self obsessed.

The supporting cast is fantastic! Ron's "buddys" in this one are tighter than Frodo and Sam! "Brick", being a self described mildly retarded, non confrontational weather man has some of the best lines in the movie, the likes of which I won't spoil. Brian Fantana, played by the awesome Paul Rudd (Clueless, Shape of Things, 2 Days) is just stellar. Easily his best role to date. Hell, even Christina Applegate is up there with her girl power rich perfomance, long removed from her "Married" days.

The one liners are just overflowing and ridiculously undeniable! When Burgundy tries to explain the origins of the name "San Diego", he claims it to be German in origin, meaning "a whale's vagina." There's plenty more where that came from, all out of trying to impress Corningstone, which is both admirable, and hilarious at the same time.

A storyline for the ages. A movie about a suave 70's anchorman? It doesn't get much more original than that, and to think this was actually an issue in the 70's makes it all the more amusing to watch the Al Bundy-esque "NO MAAM" attitude put out by the male contingent at Channel 4.

Cons:

I love good, corny lines, but at times, I think they tried a little too hard. Granted, this was the 70's, but the cheap leisure suit jokes about being bought at the "Salvation Army", etc, were a little flat. Fortunately, the not so funny jokes were minmal, and usually easily forgotten by the tirade of verbal antics by Ferrell and crew.

It was actually a little TOO dramatic at times? I know there has to be some seriousness to establish credibility for the relationship between Ferrell and Applegate, but at times, it lagged. Same can be said about Ron and his inaudible "crying" lines, in his time away from the studio.

Some of the spots, they spent a little too much time on. The Newsteam Battle Royale could have been sped up a little, as the point was made pretty early in the scene. However, it did preoduce two of the more clever sight gags in the movie.

Lastly, the end scene with his dog, speaking in "bear" with the subtitles was a little forced. It was a cute idea, but I think that since they kept the dialogue clean, it wasn't nearly as effective.

Overall:

You either love Will Ferrell or you absolutely hate him. You're aware of his brand of comedy, and what to expect from this movie. Thankfully, I think the guy is a comedic genius. He's a great actor, a great improviser.
I haven't laughed this hard, or laughed this much in succession since "Scary Movie 3", personally.

I give 4 out of 5 reels, demerits because of some extended, unneccesary dramatics, a few flat spots in pivotal scenes, and some character overkill on the supporting casts behalf.

Great! I'm going to go see it with my friends tomorrow! I can't wait.... well actually, I can.

thanks for the review Cin....I emailed it to my daughter who is a HUGE Ferrell fan. I on the other hand am in the minority of peeps who absolutely hate him. i like your reviews they are very good. 🙂

Alright, Cory, I rarely disagree with you in ANYTHING in KMC, but I was a little disappointed with Anchorman. Nothing terrible, but overall, if I did your Cine-pick, I would give it 2.5/5.0.

Plus side: Theme was great (doing it in the 70's as opposed to today was excellent), primarily to keep the 88% mindless idiots also in the theater from relating too much. Also I liked the concept of the all-male news team's manhood challenged by an up-and-coming female (from Asheville, nonetheless). Speaking of Christina Applegate, she was excellent. Will Ferrell was good, but IMO not as good as other roles he has done in the past. Listen, Elf isn't exactly my kind of film, but I thought it was perfect for him. Also, some of the MINOR players worked well, especially the cameos.

Down side: I didn't like his supporting cast at all. I think it was because they had one-joke personalities, and everything they did focused on that. Hey, I know they're playing second-hand to Ferrell and Applegate, but give them something else to do besides cork out the repetitive lines you start to expect from them 20 minutes into the film. If they're going to keep with the same style of lines, how about applying it a bit more to do with their jobs? I think that would have worked better.

I also didn't like Brick at all. I think it had something to do with the crowd (see below). I'm not a big fan of humor like that (for those who haven't seen it it's not sexual humor or anything like that), but I don't think I laughed at anything he said. I did, however, laugh numerous times at when he "appeared" (like next to the opposition news team during the confrontation, in Applegate's place at the end, and on the bear).

Honestly, I think it was the crowd at the theater that turned me off. I thought the movie was OK, but the crowd there was too noisy and ridiculously immature and dragged down the good jokes, and made the bad jokes really, really bad, if you know what I mean. Also, they didn't even get any of the jokes that required any brainpower. Maybe that says something about where I live. I'm worried about that.

I dunno, maybe I'll rent it on DVD to remedy that.

i thought this movie was great..will ferrel is having hit after hit and rightfully so...this movie just adds to his great and funny movie list...

brick and burgundy were my favorite characters..just downright funny

great movie..go see it but only AFTER you see Spiderman 2...don't miss THAT movie for the world

Originally posted by botankus

I dunno, maybe I'll rent it on DVD to remedy that.

You should. People suck. Period. Especially on opening day of any movie that has a pseudo-recognizable cast.

I hate the fact you didn't like the supporting cast though. Keep in mind, those guys are playing hammed up charactateurs (sp?), with gimmicks that they have to live up to. I know that some of Brick's dialogue wasn't that funny, but the situational humor..

Spoiler:
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOOOOUUUUUUUTTTT!"

Anycrap, do rent it. I loved it, and I'd hate for someone to dislike a movie because they couldn't enjoy it, thanks only to the environment.

Originally posted by Cinemaddiction
Anycrap, do rent it. I loved it, and I'd hate for someone to dislike a movie because they couldn't enjoy it, thanks only to the environment.

Yeah, I was thinking about the movie a bit more about 3 hours after I posted, and I started to remember a few earlier things which were pretty good. Also, didn't you think the opening piece during the credits was pretty funny? Where it introduces Ron, and he's doing stuff like smoking and drinking behind the desk. Think about it, it's actually a segment that would appeal to a more mature comedy fan rather than people who have seen American Pie one too many times. I guess that's why about a handful of people in the packed theater laughed at the opener in the theater but they all roared when the girl at the party referred to her next big things as her boobs.

Maybe in my Cine-pick moonlighting adventure I'll bump it up to a 3.5/5.0 after I rent it, which I will definately do, with no one but my girlfriend (who's quiet during movies, one of her best qualities (she has many of those, BTW)) watching it with me.

check out www.comingsoon.net/video and watch the interviews with the cast very funny

i'm 🙁 and 😠 and a bit 😘 after seeing this movie. I am also a little 😮 to have seen it. Though I am am 😄 it is over, I don't think I will ever recover.

Anchorman sucked.. it was not worth paying for. It was "cute" and all but not that funny. i mean some parts were funny, but overall it was really stupid and i sudgest that you know see it

You enjoyed "Along Came Polly", so I take your "review" with a grain of salt. 😉

The Movie Review forum is all about opinion, do other ppls opposite comments to your own comment make a difference, unless you get proved worng but, all that matters is if you enjoyed the movie. my philosophy

This movie was the apotome of mediocracy. It had some moments which were, in theory, suppose to be funny, but weren't for some reason. And it had some moments, in which I was embarassed to be sitting amongst the members of the crowd. A crowd which was so moronic and idiotic, that they would clap and cheer whenever a cameo would appear. Plus, "the massive erection" joke induced the crowd into "knee-slapping" glee for nearly 5 minutes. What is wrong with people these days? Though the cast was amazing, and the potential for this movie was, as they say, "through the roof!", even then this movie completley failed. When some of my friends are drunk they say wittier and funnier phrases then what can be heard in the celluloidal fecal matter. This movie's comedy point of view has the same caliber of, say, a grade 7 drama play gone horribly awry.

In terms of numbers, no number should ever fall victim into being placed as a score for this clap-trap. But, for the sake of "Ha-Ha's", I give this movie a 1 out of 10, and I apologize to the numbers one and ten for being placed into the review of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Originally posted by moonwalker741
The Movie Review forum is all about opinion, do other ppls opposite comments to your own comment make a difference, unless you get proved worng but, all that matters is if you enjoyed the movie. my philosophy

Not sure what you're getting at, but people who have opinions with no basis usually go unrecognized. "That movie sucked" is all too common a phrase on here, and people usually have pretty petty excuses for disliking it.

Originally posted by Waggy the Dog
This movie was the apotome of mediocracy.

..or the epitome of mediocrity. 😉

I didn't expect you to see this movie, personally.

"..or the epitome of mediocrity."

I guess what I said didn't make much sense, now did it? Hmm. I Should watch out for that later. thanks for that little correction.

And, Even I was suprised when I saw it, just as much as you are. It was actually the friends I mentioned in my last post that dragged me into the theatre to see it, and I truly mean "dragged" me to see this. Even they didn't laugh in the movie, and I think they were drunk at the time as well. And if you have ever been drunk before, you should know that, someone "hiccuping" or dropping some change on the floor by accident could be a hysterical laugh riot. None of them laughed.

As I said, I thoroghly regret my attendance to this movie, and will never recover from it. It is one of those things that you see that traumatizes you forever. I should be able to see ghosts now or something.

ironically, I didn't expect you to see this movie either. Much less give it a 4 out of 5, which would translate to an 8 on my scale. I would never in my wildest dreams give this movie an 8. Just the thought of it, brings me shivers down my spine.

I don't see too many comedies that actually make me laugh. I may be over-compensating with my rating, who knows. Still better than half the muck that's out there, like "King Arthur". What a godawful waste of $5.25 and my precious time. Be sure to check my review for that. 😄

"What happened to you, man? You use to be about the music"

King Arthur? Anchorman? 🙁

Originally posted by Waggy the Dog
And if you have ever been drunk before, you should know that, someone "hiccuping" or dropping some change on the floor by accident could be a hysterical laugh riot. None of them laughed.

No, that's not funny, that's just annoying. What's funny is when you bring beer bottles into the theater, sit in the back, and they accidentally (key word here is accidentally 😉) tip over and roll all the way to the front like the Plinko game on The Price is Right.

Well, I haven't done that in about eight years so it was fun to reminisce.

...uh, okay. You know, I never knew how funny the word "plinko" really was.

Originally posted by Waggy the Dog
"What happened to you, man? You use to be about the music"

King Arthur? Anchorman? 🙁

Opinions come with a price, that's all I can say. For the sake of not sounding like a hypocrite when I lay into people for being "cinematically prejudice", I feel an certain obligation to see movies "just so I know".

"Anchorman" was one I already intended on seeing, "King Arthur" was more of a "I wonder" type deal. I've got to learn to curb my sporatic impulses to see movies, no matter how much of a "cinema-ddiction" I've developed.

I don't plan to "Sleepover", however.

Yet.