one of the funniest (albeit stupidest) films of the year

Rating: 8/10 (12 July 2004)

Anchorman is a film that would hardly merit itself to be taken too seriously, so as a full-on, joke-a-minute spoof, it works a lot better. Ferrell plays the title character of Ron Burgendy, as a man who will read anything on the teleprompter, and is a (in his mind) ladies man to boot. Enter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate, in her best role since her Married with Children days), who is assigned to the local news station - soon as a co-anchor - which throws off what these 70's news people (including a great, dimwit role for Steve Correll) are used to. This leads forth into a pretty general story-line for a comedy of this sort, yet a story is the last thing to think about here.
Like the recent Dodgeball, Anchorman is superb at doing one thing above all, which is supplying a joke practically every thirty seconds, if not more. There are many scenes that also go down as near comic gems, some of which I would dare not spoil here. However, the film gets a boost from not only Ferrell- who gets laughs by almost anything (including gibberish and mad screaming in some scenes)- but from totally un-expected and worthy cameos. I wouldn't say Anchorman is for everyone (in general, art-film buffs, Shakespeare geeks, and character study phobes might want to steer clear), but perhaps its finest feat is that it's like one long SNL skit - and a skit that surprisingly works a helluva lot better than could be imagined from the trailer. Oh- if you do see it, stay through the credits (as Ferrell's character on SNL, James Lipton, said "It's a delight")!