Bad hair day in San Diego

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2005)

The curse for some of our photogenic news anchors appears to be having a bad hair day, or not being suitably clothed with the right pastel colors in front of the camera. Or so, it seems to be the message of this, sometimes funny, spoof about the folks that deliver the news on television, especially in California.
Director Adam McKay, with the help of the star of this film, Will Ferrell, have come out with a screen play that tries to make fun out of some of the local Southern California's anchors. They treat the news as entertainment, or so it appears to be the case. One never sees any crisis in their broadcasts, and being caught without makeup, or heaven forbid hair spray, will send them into a frenzy.
The battle for ratings is at the core of most of these broadcasts. The more ridiculous the items being given coverage in their thirty minutes format, the better. In fact, the greatest single item of interest for the many networks in the area seem to be the coverage of the birth of a baby panda in the San Diego zoo, where one anchor woman, by accident, is sent by a rival anchor into the pit where some grizzly bears are housed. But never fear, Ron Burgundy, anchor extraordinaire, comes to her rescue and the resulting footage beats the competition and the baby panda takes second seat to the sensational feat accomplished by the anchorman.
There are some funny moments in the film, which falls into the gross genre. The sexual jokes at the station, at the expense of the young woman who is hired, are tasteless, at best. The sequence of the fighting anchors in a free for all leaves one of them with only one arm, but before the film ends, he'll lose the other one as well.
Will Ferrell, the funny man of the hour, has some good opportunities where to shine; after all, this is a vehicle tailor made for him! Christina Applegate shows she can keep herself going. Paul Rudd is totally wasted; Fred Willard ditto. In some cameos we see by Luke Wilson, Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Tim Robbins and Ben Stiller, among others.
The best way to approach this movie is to watch it without any expectations, as it will probably appear better with that type of viewing attitude.