Anchorman
Specs:
1 Hr. 34 Mins.
Color
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1),
French (Dolby Digital
5.1),
Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround),
English (DTS 5.1)
Occasionally, a studio will release a star vehicle. Usually, these star vehicles don't rely heavily on their scripts, but rather the performance of these stars. The film Anchorman pretty much falls into that mold. It's a star vehicle for the very funny Will Ferrell. The only problem is that the film itself isn't that great. Not that it's a terrible film. It's decently funny thanks to many of the performances, but the entire film just doesn't work that well as a whole.
The odd thing about this shortcoming is that the story sounds like something that could lend itself to some great laughs. Will Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy, a anchorman in the 70s. Ron is your typical chauvinist pig as is the rest of his new steam who includes the very funny Paul Rudd as the suave Tom Fontana and the hysterical Steve Correll as Brick.
The world comes falling down though when the head of the station played by the always reliable Fred Willard is forced to let a woman, Veronica Corningstone(Christina Applegate), onto the new steam. At first, Veronica is given measly jobs such as covering unimportant miniscule events. Yet, when Ron is taken away from his job one day because of disastrous events, Veronica is forced to take over the anchor position and does a great job. This leads to Veronica being made co-anchor with Ron and naturally this causes an ugly battle.
One has to be surprised that there is actually little to this film. After all, on the extras the viewer learns that the idea for the movie came from an actual documentary about the first female newscasters. One would think that a comedy that has it roots in not only a real source but a source laced with such great potential material would be a little smarter, but it's not. There's really no satire to the film, which is too bad because it would have fit comfortably with the atmosphere the film created. For all it's authentic trappings it's mainly just your typical juvenile comedy of this day and age i.e. lots of skits, some funny and some not, thrown together in a long succession.
Now keep in mind that this does not really make the film terrible. While the film may take on the qualities of a long SNL skit, it is occasionally funny with some inspired set pieces. Some of the best ones include a jazz session using a flute and the best sequence involving a rumble between different news teams. There's really nothing else to the film substance wise. Some of the skits work and some don't.
This is mainly thanks to some great comedic performances. Will Ferrell has always been funny, and here he does it once again. Ferrell is extremely dedicated to his role even if it is really one note. His supporting cast actually steals a lot of scenes from him, especially the great Steve Correll from Daily Show. One must also give some credit to Christina Applegate. She essentially plays the straight man here, but does it quite well. Applegate has always been an accomplished comedic actress whose sadly not given the credit she deserves.
In the end this film isn't bad, but it's not particularly great. For all it's time period trappings it's basically a modern and very ordinary comedy with some laughs here and there thanks to some good performances. If one wants to see a great Will Ferrell comedy see Elf.
Feature Commentary
This is without a doubt the worst commentary track ever recorded. First, if you want a track that talks about the film then don't bother as the film is never mentioned. Second, if you want a funny track with the people in the cast then also don't bother. The track is essentially one long sketch where the different members of the cast come in and yell at Ferrell for various reasons. It's all in good humor, but one has to wonder why exactly anybody thought this would be funny. Also, at least half the track is bleeped out as the cast cusses so much. This is a pretty useless commentary track.
The Making Of Anchorman
This is another useless extra. It's very short so it doesn't say much about the film. Most of the time it is taken up by a shtick in which Ferrell and the director seem to hate each other. It's not very funny, and it doesn't really provide any information.
Bloopers
This is pretty self-explanatory. Some of the bloopers are funny, but it goes for far too long.
Afternoon Delight: Music Video
The cast does a music video of afternoon delight. This is a take-off on the section of the film where the cast sings it a capella. That portion of the film wasn't that funny and neither is this. It's sort of cute but that's about it.
A Conversation With Ron Burgundy
This is a surprisingly clever extra in which the character of Ron Burgundy is interviewed, James Lipton style, as if Burgundy was a real journalist. Since it's mostly improve this actually comes off funnier than the movie occasionally.
Ron Burgundy At The MTV Movie Awards
A short but clever extra where Burgundy interviews a celebrity a la Jiminy Glick style, asking a lot of silly questions as the celebrity acts very confused. It's short but funny.
ESPN Audition
Another short but clever extra where Burgundy auditions for an ESPN anchor position. Upon learning the concept of ESPN he makes fun of the idea and leaves. This is an enjoyable extra.
Stars ***1/2 out of ****
Review by Blake Hinton
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