maybe if they actually WROTE this movie...

Rating: 6/10 (14 November 2006)

...instead of just continually improvising lines, then picking what they thought were the funniest, and editing them together. You don't believe me? Watch the credits.
Ms. Applegate has growed up so nice, and can actually act! She shows a nice range of complex emotions. They are highlighted all the more because she is in contrast to the rest of the cast, which consists of entirely one-dimensional, one-joke characters.
The entire movie plays out in typical skit-humor fashion. With such a big send-up for the promo's and all, you wouldn't think that would be the case, but it is. The plot has that greasy, "made-for-TV movie" feel to it. The ultra-feeble attempt at creating some kind of thread throughout the movie (the boring though highly in-context "panda birth") has Ben Stiller's fingerprints all over it. Using it as the climax, and then not even having the balls to actually USE the damn thing, is so weak. (It turns into the BEAR PIT GAG?!?! OMG, just awful, tedious, unfunny - like watching an "I Love Lucy" episode at 2 AM because you can't sleep.) The weatherman character Brick, played as an autistic who has no ability to discern any kind of emotion or intuition, is mildly funny ("Loud noises!"), and there are a few set pieces that work well, like the first (and ONLY the first) meeting with the rival news team. But on the whole, there seemed to be too much of the awkwardly-progressing "romantic-comedy" story in the film, and not enough of what it ought to have been about, Ron Burgundy and his sexist, buffoon comrades.
I like Will Ferrel and think he has a good comic talent, but there's just something about the SNL alums that keep them from making "movies". Maybe "The Blues Brothers" set the bar too high, or "Wayne's World" set it too low. The funny thing is, this isn't even an SNL character flic, but it fails just as badly as if it were! This movie is not to be avoided at all costs, but there's lots more funny movies being made that are satisfying at levels that you want and need them to be. If I'm going to sit down for 90 minutes, there better be more offered to me than just a few stale characters delivering a few funny lines and making a few funny situations. I can get that mediocre level of satisfaction from TV if I want it, thanks. The Coen Brothers or Billy Bob Thorton can deliver funny films, that are at the same time satisfying film experiences. Why can't Will Ferrel and co.?