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ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF
RON BURGUNDY
by Peter Sobczynski

July 9, 2004

1/2 (out of 4 stars)

FILM CREDITS: Written by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay. Directed by Adam McKay. Starring Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner and Fred Willard. MPAA Rating by PG-13 for sexual humor, language and comic violence. Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures

It is easy enough to make a dumb movie about dumb people. It is a little more difficult to make a smart movie about dumb people. It is even harder to make a smart movie about dumb people who think that they are actually smart people. "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" manages to pull off the latter with a surprising degree of ease. This is one of the funniest movies of the year and a lot of the reason for that is because it has enough respect for the audience that it believes that they will simply accept the admittedly bewildering conceit of the film without having it dumbed down or simplified for them. Of course, most of those audiences will be laughing too hard to notice that respect, but it is still a nice sentiment.

The notion of having a TV news anchorman, the person who winds up being responsible for providing important information to the public, being a vain and blithering idiot when the cameras are off is hardly a new one-the classic model would be the Ted
Baxter character from the old "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and even Bob & Ray used to do a similar thing with their beloved Wally Ballou. However, I never would have suspected that such a character could be sustained for the length of a feature film-once the joke that the guy is a boob is delivered, where does it go from there. The secret behind "Anchorman" is that while Ron Burgundy, the 1970's-era San Diego news icon played by Will Ferrell (who also co-wrote the film), is an idiot, the screenplay doesn't rely solely on that idea for the gags. Instead, it goes to strange lengths to find laughs and mostly succeeds in finding them.

At the start, Ron, backed up by his fellow news team members-the catchphrase-spewing Champ Kind (David Koechner), the vain field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and the dim weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell)-are the toast of the town (their proud group strut is uncannily reminiscent of the one done by the good guys at the end of the cult classic "Buckaroo Banzai") in a time when, as the opening Bill Kurtis narration informs us, TV personalities were treated like gods and "only men were allowed to read the news." Things begin to change when Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is hired as the first female reporter at the station. Ron and his men react in much the same way that Spanky, Alfalfa and the rest of the Little Rascals might have; they all protest about having to allow a woman into their all-male world and then do everything they can to date her, among other things, by using such inducements as "Sex Panther", a cologne described by one person as having an odor reminiscent of "old ham and bongwater". Ron convinces her to go out with him and after an intense jazz flute-induced wooing, the two fall in love in a scene that simply defies description.

What little plot there is kicks in when a tragic event causes Ron to miss a broadcast one evening and Veronica brilliantly takes over-so brilliantly that she is soon named co-anchor. Of course, the two realize, this means war and they begin pulling petty
stunts on each other; before long, Veronica learns Ron's Achilles heel (that he will read anything on his TelePrompTer without question) and, as a result, Ron gets fired. Eventually, Ron gets a chance to rehabilitate his reputation when the biggest news event to hit San Diego-the birth of a panda-inspires a crisis that requires him to save the day and win back Veronica, all without ever mussing a single hair.

What holds the film together and keeps it from being just a collection of jokes involving a guy acting like an idiot is the great Will Ferrell performance. The key to his work here is that while he realizes that Ron Burgundy is a dope-the kind of guy who
believes that "San Diego" is German-he also realizes that Ron believes himself to be quite smart and worldly and the humor derives from the enormous gulf between those two extremes. Because he pulls this off so splendidly, he is able to say and do the goofiest things possible (such as a vocal warm-up that includes repeating the phrase "The Human Torch was denied a bank loan") without ever coming across like a moron. Remember that line in "This is Spinal Tap" where one of the characters says, "There is a fine line between stupid and clever"? Ferrell stays on the right side of that line and the result is, seriously, one of the great performances of the years.

And even though this is basically a star vehicle for Ferrell, the rest of the cast gets to demonstrate their comedic chops as well. Applegate may appear to be stuck with the straight role but she gets off a few funny moments and Burgundy's news team score a lot of laughs-especially "The Daily Show" alum Carell, who suggests what Chauncey Gardiner might have been like if he had gotten into meteorology. (His rationale for why women shouldn't be allowed in the newsroom might be the funniest single line in the film). There are also bits for such reliable players as Vince Vaughn and Fred Willard and there is also a big centerpiece scene, one that defies description, that allows for a bunch of cameo appearances. Most comedies would have just given us the cameos and let that be the joke but this film goes a step further and gives them funny things to do-so funny that the scene would still work even if those roles were played by anonymous day players.

"Anchorman" isn't perfect-you get the sense that a lot of stuff was left on the cutting-room floor and the panda climax never manages to top the previous silliness-but it contains a lot of big laughs by staying true to its weird concept without copping out with cheap, juvenile humor. Oh sure, there is plenty of that as well, but it is smart, cheap, juvenile humor and an intelligent twist can always save even the oldest comedic concept. Most comedies today are so tired, listless and unfunny that it is a wonder that they can even make it to the finale under their own power. "Anchorman", on the other hand, has such a surplus of good stuff that even the end-credit bloopers are pretty funny.

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2004 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.