Anchorman: If Ron Burgundy Says It, Then It's Funny!

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2005)

Will Ferrell. I have never met a single person, male or female, who has been indifferent to him. Either you love him or you hate him. And, as much as I hate to say it, it is the same situation for this film: either you love it or you hate it. I happen to be the former. This film reeks of funny. From the title, itself a mockery of a film about porn actor Ron Jeremy, to the bloopers that run during the closing credits, this flick doesn't let up.
I'm in the entertainment business. And, while not everything I attempt to do is entertaining, I do understand what it takes to entertain, and this film has just that. You see, sometimes the funniest part of life is its absurdity/absurdities. And just about everything in Anchorman is absurd. And hilarious. Will Ferrell is the caricature of at least one person that everyone in the broadcast industry has known at one time or another. Paul Rudd perfectly embodies that sad guy who wants and tries so desperately to be cool that he ultimately just has to latch on to someone who is cool in order to be cool. David Koechner. His character, Champ, has issues. Let's leave it at that. And Brick? Well, it's obvious that Steve Carell is one of the top comedic geniuses of our time. His timing is impeccable, his performance is hysterical. And it's all within the realm and scope of the film's limits. Which are stringent and very loose. Christina Applegate, Fred Willard, and the cast of thousands of un-billed celebrity cameos all added to the fun.
And what I've found to be the biggest either selling point or turnoff, depending on whether you loved it or hated it, respectively, is that most of the film is a big inside joke. It's all a dig at broadcasting. The quirks that everyone exhibit (Ron's dependence on the teleprompter and his vocal warm-ups; Brian's over-the-top, I'm-gonna-make-everything-bigger-than-it-really-is attitude; Champ's catch-phrase, "Whammy!"; Brick's quaint nicknames for areas of the country) are all done in jest toward members of the broadcasting community. If you're a broadcaster, and you saw this film, then you loved it. I'm willing to bet money on it (well, if I had any).
Adam McKay, this being his debut, does a good job at being the kind of director that actors love. He's a director that lets you go to the edge of what is possible for a scene, look over that edge, dangle your legs over it, fish off of it, then let you find your way back again. Yet all the while he knows what he wants and is determined to fashion his film out of what he's given by the genius he has working for him. In short: McKay does a good job for his first time out.
Outrageous? Yes. Irreverent? You bet. Coy? Most certainly. Funny? You'd better believe it. To borrow a phrase (sort of): If you don't think this is the funniest film ever, then I will fight you.