Not quite as "legendary" as some would hope, this one-liner bonanza is hit-and-miss, with too many misses

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2006)

What happens when a bunch of acting buddies take a crazy idea and stretch it to epic proportions? We get Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy. Written by the lead actor Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay, and then improvised to death by the stars throughout the film, this is really a hit-and-miss movie. Unfortunately though, we get plenty of misses amongst the few hits. This technique of improvising the same scenes over and over again is what made movies like Caddyshack and Dumb and Dumber complete classics, and what saved Talladega Nights, but unfortunately wasn't enough to carry this film far enough out of boredom every so often. The plethora of cameos and surprise appearances couldn't quite save the film, despite for the most part being very humorous. Last but not least, there just wasn't enough Steve Carell.
Anchorman follows the journeys of a popular San Diego news anchor whose placement at the top seemed to not have an end. Followed by his trusty crew and his news station, he remains on top of the ratings with his charm, ability to capture attention, and maybe even with his hair. Could be the hair, who knows? But, but, a rising anchorwoman was threatening his placement at the top and that thread is named Veronica. As she continues to gain support of the ratings, Ron starts losing respect, friends, and potentially, even his job. One side plot involves the constant rivalry between him and the other news stations, which escalates to epic proportions as the second act rolls around.
Will Ferrell has his moments indeed, he can be a very funny man, and he is one of the leaders in one-liners. Yet, underneath the one-liners lie a lot of jokes that just fall flat, including his antics with his dog, his "guns," and his embarrassing way of trying to impress women. Same problem goes with the rest of the cast; they all had their moments in the spotlight, but at other moments were quite boring. McKay also failed to bring out any humorous moments with the lead female, the usually funny Christina Applegate, whose beginnings included her hilarious portrayal as Kelly in "MarriedWith Children." This idea wasn't meant to be a motion picture, but instead more like a Saturday Night Live skit, a recurring one at that. One would wonder if all the extra material filmed that didn't end on the final draft could have improved the movie a bit more.
The best performance by far was that of Steve Carell. His expressions, his dialogue, his posture, and his comic timing is absolutely brilliant, if only others followed his lead. Steve Carell was an obvious star on the rise, and it was a total shame he wasn't utilized a bit more, because he delivered some of the funnier moments in Anchorman. What kept Anchorman going was actually all the cameos and small roles by famous actors, including Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan, Tim Robbins, Luke Wilson, and Fred Armisen. Best part of the movie happens with tons of cameos, as all the crews of the competing news stations join together and.dance.
Yet, after that amazingly funny scene, it all slows down almost to a halt. It becomes almost unbearable as the third act rolls around and we see Will Ferrell run out of improvising ideas and the writers running out of material. The climax falls kind of flat as well, with once again Carell helping a bit. The ending pulls in way too fast, and what we have ourselves is a quotable movie, but with nothing really worth watching more than once. Hey, just because you can quote it doesn't make it any good, right?
Bottom Line: A reunion, a party, a festival of improvising fiends with a knack of stretching an idea and not being afraid to take risks is what basically makes Anchorman a watchable film at times, but then a bore at other moments. Obviously it was fun filming in an atmosphere where anything goes, but sadly not all the fun is transferred to the screen, to the viewer. We get decent scenes, and then get boring scenes. It was a hit-and-miss film like Talladega Nights and other Frat Pack movies, but unlike Talladega Nights, it gets kind of slow. Will Farrell can do these kinds of movies for only so long before they become repetitive, and its about time to explore other ways to make people laugh. McKay deserves credit for being able to film despite not having much control over the filming, but he should have filled in the gaps in between instances of comedic gold with some material. You can get by on improvisation for only so long.