Monday, September 17, 2012

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

IMDb plot summary: Ron Burgundy is San Diego's top rated newsman in the male dominated broadcasting of the 1970's, but that's all about to change when a new female employee with ambition to burn arrives in his office.
Directed by Adam McKay. Stars Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner.


Oh, I resisted this movie. I resisted watching it at all because it was popular and everyone told me I had to see it, so I told myself I would never enjoy it or find it funny. Then I finally decided I should watch it, and it turned out to be one of the funniest movies I've seen in a LONG time. It hit exactly all the right spots for me, just the right balance between absurdity and story-based context. I can only imagine that large portions of this were heavily improvised - most of the lines just don't FEEL scripted, and they take me by surprise, producing a long series of unexpected giggles and guffaws. It's been awhile since I found something that meshed so *well* with my sense of humor, and it was wonderful to watch. Pure delight for me all the way through. I suspect this is going to become one of my favorites. 4.5 stars.

Best Part: Steve Carell. Almost every single thing he said or did made me laugh.
Worst Part: I was next-to-not-at-all interested in the romance, but Will Ferrell was always funny enough to override any boredom with the plot.
Flickchart: #125, below Sleepless in Seattle and above Catch Me If You Can.

3 comments:

Dave said...

WILL FERRELL HAS NEVER BEEN FUNNY

Travis S. McClain said...

This is one that my friends quote from all the time, but to be honest, it did nothing for me.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you liked the film. I'm a big fan too. And yes, a lot of it was improvised. They shot so much that they managed to make an entirely separate film ("Wake Up, Ron Burgundy") using just cut material and alternate takes. It's definitely not a slam dunk like Anchorman, but it has it's moments and is worth checking out if you liked the characters and tone.