Mindless comedy works best without a thought...

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2004)

I don't think this is the film that will bring tons of new fans to Will Ferrell, but for those of us who enjoyed his time on SNL this should do just fine.
While some here cite this as nothing more than an SNL skit stretched to film-length, I disagree (we've already seen more than enough of those). This really rivals an SNL episode. It's the same length, but I think overall there are more laughs in this and certainly less commercials. At the same time, SNL is free...
Well, this was worth a matinée for me and my wife. We went in with our expectations scraping the floor and that always helps for a comedy. There are some Ferrell staples like idiotic idioms for $100, bad yet funny nakedness for $200 (well nearly nakedness we don't get the full burrito here), a cavorting cover of a goofy pop song for $300, and plenty of doofy self-denigration....priceless!
So we got our money's worth...in addition a new manchild maneuver, the crying inconsolably and uncontrollably worked very well. The required animal-abuse humor is included, and better than usual. Anthropomorphizing worked for Muppets and it works here too with a dog godhead.
Passing gas is largely passed over (thankfully), but fun is poked priapically at prudes (even more thankfully). That scene works well because it is an embarrassment most male members can identify with.
Where this film could have worked more? Squeeze in even more jokes...why save them for the 4-hour DVD, cut out the semblance of plot altogether. The Taliban was defeated, we know women can compete with men. Heck, you could have used Tina Fey more than Christina Applegate. I think the old Naked Gun films worked thanks to rapid firing...if a dud came along, you didn't have minutes to think how pathetic it was, as another round came in immediately.
I do think it is admirable that the trailer, rather than representing the sum of the funny moments in the film, actually had a fair amount of funny moments *not* from the film. I suspect that everyone making a comedy wants to also make a great film, but not everyone should try. Mindless comedy works best without a thought...
Sadly the Old School mini-reunion sorta flopped. Cameos on SNL worked usually because someone on screen was impersonating DeNiro or Dole when the real deal appeared. The excitement of the live crowd, and the inherent awkward nature of doing an impersonation in front of the target added to it. Here the cameos are mostly harmless...and Vince Vaughan gets really only one laugh when he chastises his posse. He's usually money (sorry...but really he's painfully funny when unchained).
Meanwhile Ferrell's posse never rivals Will for a laugh. I've seen rave reviews for Steve Carell's one-brick-in-his-name, many-shy-of-a-load weatherman and he's the best of the bunch, but Ferrell is funny enough that he can fend off even more competition. Let Will and Jack Black collide for a full film!!
If you read more, or I write more...than we're overthinking this. If you enjoy Ferrell's brash cluelessness (less snarky than Bill Murray's, but playing upon our same fear of lacking self-awareness) then you'll likely want to tune in Anchorman.
6.5/10