The Funny Idiots Of TV News

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2004)

Will Ferrell and company seem to be 2 decades late in satirizing the leisure-suit era of over-blown TV personalities. Then again, the biggest change from that time to this is that now the ego-twit types in the news game are not just local, they're national. So either 'Anchorman' is way late for the party or it's very timely. Look, I don't really care which. Is it funny? Will it show you a silly, good time? Sure, and I think silliness is the best you can expect from such a soft-boiled egg. This parody is not trying to hurt anybody for real, just poke them gently in the rib cage. But even though this one drives in the slow lane when it should be speeding down the humour highway, the movie made me laugh...sometimes in spite of myself.
What surprised me was that it gets funnier as it goes along, especially when the cartoon violence escalates. It's hard to take anything seriously, but an old-fashioned rumble is so stupidly violent that it's just too funny for words. The movie sports plenty of cameos, most of them unveiled in this one scene. In fact, everybody Ferrell ever met seems to be in this flick. His rumble opponents are rival anchors from 3 different stations and they happen to be recognizable movie stars too. I enjoyed this one idiotic scene so much, that it made every limp moment that came before seem funnier.
So what's the story then? Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy, a sensationally arrogant and dumb San Diego news anchor. His goofy co-stars (including Paul Rudd & the scarily dim Steve Carrell) are also his only friends until Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) arrives to spike their testosterone punch. Soon she's sharing Burgundy's desk and his bed. But the men resent this woman (the first female anchor ever, apparently) and humorous trouble brews. Fred Willard plays the boss and straight man, which is a bit of a disappointment. He's too hilarious to be so serious.
Will Ferrell is so popular right now, his script could have been a fiery turd and the flick would STILL make a huge profit. He & rookie director Adam McKay (a colleague from Ferrell's SNL days) co-authored the screenplay, which was probably left wide open for hours worth of improvs. A stronger director might have held out for even better jokes. An experienced director might have tightened things up and paced the movie better. The abundant flaws don't do serious damage. I may not remember much about 'Anchorman' in 3 months, but lots of chuckles were yanked outta me this afternoon. If you want to laugh at foolishness by the Will Ferrell troupe, this fake news story might be the ticket. Or it might not...