Der Anchorman (2004)
9KDer Anchorman: Directed by Adam McKay. With Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell. Ron Burgundy is San Diego’s top-rated newsman in the male-dominated broadcasting of the 1970s, but that’s all about to change for Ron and his cronies when an ambitious woman is hired as a new anchor.
“I went to u0026quot;Anchormanu0026quot; expecting another super-mainstream, lowest-common-denominator, SNL-derived romp. Now, these arenu0026#39;t the worst movies in the world, to be sure. u0026quot;Happy Gilmoreu0026quot; and u0026quot;Old Schoolu0026quot; are pretty agreeable ways to while away the time. But usually about an hour in to these affairs, Iu0026#39;ve had enough of the broadness and predictability, which starts to get downright oppressive. Itu0026#39;s not just that theyu0026#39;re lowbrow–itu0026#39;s that theyu0026#39;re so overwhelmingly, disappointingly conventional.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLuckily, this isnu0026#39;t what u0026quot;Anchormanu0026quot; is. u0026quot;Anchormanu0026quot; is a refreshingly off-kilter outing from an unlikely source–Will Ferrell, the current reigning lord of middle-of-the-road fratboy Sandlerism. The film has a lot more in common with Mel Brooks and Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker than anything in the SNL family tree. It prizes out-and-out silliness and absurdity over bathroom humor and penis jokes (though thereu0026#39;s plenty of the latter, donu0026#39;t worry), and pulls it off admirably. In essence, the key to this stuff is never letting off of the goofiness even for a second–the audience should never be allowed to take anything seriously.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Anchormanu0026quot; achieves this with exceedingly silly and bizarre dialogue complemented by killer comic performances from Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Vince Vaughn and Steve Carrel. Youu0026#39;d have to be lobotomized to maintain a straight face through lines like u0026quot;Itu0026#39;s made with bits of real panther. So you know itu0026#39;s good.u0026quot; and u0026quot;Iu0026#39;m riding a big, furry tractor!u0026quot; The direction and pacing are also pretty solid at times, and the requisite celeb cameos are very nicely done (especially in one particular scene which I wouldnu0026#39;t dream of ruining).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe filmu0026#39;s not without its flaws, certainly. Chief among them is the wasting of one of the best comic character actors in the biz: Fred Willard. If ever there was someone born to play a smarmy local TV newsman, Willard is it. But heu0026#39;s inexplicably cast here as a dull station suit, while David Koechner plods through the sportscaster role that was clearly meant for him–passable but certainly not as inspired as Willard would have been. Also, I think that the story would have benefited if Vaughn and his cronies, the closest thing to villains in this lightheaded romp, had a little more face time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut these are comparatively minor problems–the point is that Ferrel has given us something thatu0026#39;s really funny in a way thatu0026#39;s appreciably different from the endless SNL movie-mill. Itu0026#39;s not Monty Python, but it is a healthy departure from what has become the comic mainstream. Most importantly, the laughs are frequent, long, and deep–check it out and you wonu0026#39;t be disappointed.”
