Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
Will Ferrellâs fame in comedy can seem rather inexplicable to the typical layman type who prefers their humor to be cool, sophisticated, and funny. Back from his early SNL days when he seemed almost determined to emulate his performing style based on various legendary alumni from the showâs past (Chevy Chase among them) without nary a smidgen of their talent or charm, he has since evolved through his movie career into having a persona that can best be described as the once masculine American male now in steady decline (and per that real life decline in manhood that can actually be seen in our current culture, he may have struck a nerve), which some might construe as The Comedy Of Being Pathetic. Unfortunately, most of his (lead role) film work has resulted in his being woefully unfunny both with his filmâs stories and the writing for his characters as well while ironically still keeping perfectly in touch with that said persona. Finding a quality project for a comedic actor like this is a tough sell indeed, but at least Ferrell seems to have managed to grasp his own unfortunate strong suits. This 2004 release remains his one truly great comedy, in many ways BECAUSE it depicts the decline of the once great American male to changing times and attitudes, and having it be set in the 1970s when it was still cool for men to be insensitive assholes towards women is certainly an ideal approach, and casting Ferrell as an âAll Powerfulâ local TV news anchor in San Diego was the touch of genius which was certainly required, since the era of the oldschool male news anchor was that of receiving our information from the mouths and faces of men who were obviously totally pompous assholes in real life, yet whom we allowed into our homes every night because we didnât feel like reading the newspaper that day and liked to get our news fix in a nice, clean 30 minute block even while this same asshole would usually parade around the set (and the city) acting as if he were just the biggest ol star in the world, complete with temper tantrums, diva like fits, and the tendency to act as if everyone he meets should just kiss his ass on principle. Thus is the perfect way to describe Ferrellâs Ron Burgundy, actually doing very, very little in the way of making the viewer even remotely LIKE him, but more than likely cause us to just shake our heads in stunned disbelief at just how incredibly arrogant he actually is, all while performing a job that anyone with the gift of literacy could do just as well, but itâs that overriding, aforementioned, naturally pathetic nature of Ferrell himself that makes the character funny and even enjoyable as we witness his downfall and then his eventual rebirth. Surrounding him is his ânews teamâ, a collection of comedy actors of varying quality whose incongruent performance styles somehow manage to mesh together through what must have been a large amount of takes and retakes along with a wide berth for improvisation being done to determine exactly what worked and what didnât: You have Paul Ruddâs âreporter in the fieldâ, Brian Fontana, himself a self styled ladiesâ man who nonetheless remains insecure for seemingly never having had any relationships lasting beyond a one night stand; David Koechnerâs sports guy Champ Kind, course in his approach with a capital C, but still pretty funny doing a stereotype of the loudmouthed, redneck, sports commentator who even wears a cowboy hat whilst projecting a manâs man attitude but yet still might be a latent homosexual; and perhaps best of all Steve Carellâs weatherman Brick Tamland, a simpleminded sort (whom it turns out, is literally mentally retarded) who knows only what to say on the air about the weather what heâs been told to say and gets the biggest laughs with his penchant for saying the most random things in the middle of a heated conversation among his compadres. All of them are presided over by the station boss played by the woefully underrated comedy legend Fred Willard, getting plenty of comic mileage over such matters as his mild mannered reaction to his sonâs antics at Catholic School and the conflicts that emerge among his own troops as well. Now maybe if the movie had focused on this obvious boyâs club and their misadventures, the movie might have been a tough watch (notwithstanding their heated rivalry with their hated rivals and competition, the number 2 rated news team in town led by Vince Vaughn), but the filmâs actual masterstroke in storytelling was by acknowledging the then real life rise in womenâs liberation at the time when the horror of horrors occurs and an actual WOMAN is added to the news team, leading to a slew of funny yet politically incorrect sexism jokes and open displays of harassment against her, but fortunately the gorgeous Christina Applegate is given free reign to spread her wings wide and fly in the role, not only becoming the co anchor to Burgundy but also literally the co lead performer of the film next to Ferrell. And itâs truly a delight to see Applegate, long since at this point in time a TV icon for her unforgettable sexpot Kelly Bundy on Married With Children, finally once again being able to sink her teeth into and run with the ball on a character nearly as memorable as Kelly with her Veronica Corningstone. Taking all of the harassment, pick up attempts, and highly inappropriate behavior directed towards her in stride and with extremely good humor, Applegate knows that her job here is to be that hot girl who gets the better of all these immature little men, and if the film has that one character that the audience can actually find themselves rooting for, then she is it, effectively subverting Ferrell as the so called likable lead and stealing the movie away from him outright just as Veronica threatens to steal Burgundyâs job while reminding us that her playing the lovably dumb Kelly so remarkably well on TV was as the result of Applegateâs own adept comedy skills and NOT because she literally embodied that character in any way, shape or form. So the plot goes on, as the dirty tricks escalate with abandon (and DO succeed in being funny in every way, with the best part being saved for nearly the end) while the rivalry with Vaughnâs news team climaxes in one of the most uproarious brawls in movie history, helped by the fact that both Ferrell and director Adam McKay incorporate a number of sidesplitting yet unexpected cameos into the midst (something that does seem to happen a lot among the so called âFrat Packâ comedy stars of today with their movies) that keep the momentum rolling all while Ferrell and Applegate engage in a silly comedy romance and the audience remains entertained all the way to the finish, no mean feat indeed for a modern day comedy that successfully portrays the battle of the sexes and the fight for gender equality in this country to maximum comedic effect, even as Ferrell has gone on to portray variations of the same clueless goofball type in his later comedies to not so great results while Applegate has continued to pursue a career mostly in TV while in search of that first, elusive Emmy win. While thereâs a lightweight quality to much of the material, it doesnât change the fact that way too much of the TV news portrayed therein is nothing but pandering fluff just as it is today at times in the 24 hour cable realm (one only needs to look at Shepard Smith on Fox News to get an idea of the Burgundy archetype still being alive and well) and also the fact that almost all forms of media are basically designed to quell the nervous hearts and minds of the populace in a medium where truth is a four letter word. Best to sit back and enjoy a genuinely funny film such as this one which rightfully harkens back to a simpler time when complete idiots were stuck in front of a monitor and told to simply read the words put in front of them and little else, and the worries of our own world just seemed so much smallerâŚ
10/10