Amazing!

Rating: 1/10 (10 July 2004)

I just looked at the votes that people have already cast for this movie on imdb.com, and I am amazed at how many gave this movie a 10! There must be some hard-core Will Ferrell fans out there.
Let me state first that I'm not familiar with Will Ferrell, but I am assuming that he is one of a long line of Saturday Night Live comedians trying to make it in the movie world. I'm not sure if Ron Burgundy is a character from SNL that was brought to the big screen, but it certainly has that flavor to it.
Well, many of the reasons that I totally detested this movie fall in line with many of the reasons that I stopped watching SNL decades ago. The characters in "Anchorman" (and SNL) have been dumbed down to such a low level that they are annoying and straining for laughs constantly. The majority of the attempted humor in this movie was derived from characters acting just plain stupid in normal situations. That can be used effectively if it isn't overdone in a movie, but it just never ends in this movie.
A few positive things about this movie: There really wasn't much of the "potty" humor that seems to be required in just about every Hollywood comedy these days. Also, Christina Applegate does a decent job as a more talented reporter, and actually is much funnier than most of the characters when she plays it "straight" against the stupidity of the other characters. This is actually a totally opposite character from her days as Kelly Bundy on "Married ... with Children", she she does it quite well. Also, she seems to be becoming even more attractive as time passes by - she looks quite stunning in many of the shots. A final positive note: The theater was almost entirely empty on the opening weekend Friday night.
If I went to this movie by myself (which really wouldn't have happened), I would have walked out within the first 20 minutes. Since I was with a friend (her suggested movie, of course), I roughed it.
I will state that judging by the votes already on imdb, many people do seem to like this type of humor. So, if you think that the previews of this movie were hilarious, you will probably enjoy the movie - the previews capture the soul of the movie pretty well, without showing you all the things you would think are "funny stuff".
However, if you aren't sure whether you will like this movie based upon what you see in the previews, you should stay away - this movie gets very tiring and predictable fast.
My rating: 1 (... Only because '0' wasn't an option)