slow starting and dumb, but occasionally hilarious

Rating: 6/10 (7 May 2005)

SPOILERS Will Ferrell has been a bit of a Hollywood golden child over the last few years. Progressing from his regular stint on "Saturday Night Live" Ferrell released 2003 feel good Christmas hit "Elf". Brilliant at improvisation, Ferrell has a face for comedy and after "Elf", his next big hit was going to be "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". Slow to start though, "Anchorman" is an incredibly inconsistent film. Occasionally very, very funny, and occasionally woeful, this film is not perhaps the Ferrell gem it really should have been.
Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) and his crack news team are number one in San Diego. When ambitious Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) arrives on the scene and wants to be an anchor, things begin to slowly go wrong. After an incident involving a burrito and a Jack Black cameo, Burgundy's career begins to go disastrously downhill.
Supported by more American comedians than you can think of, Ferrell is his usual self in his guise as the obsessive news anchor. With solid performances by Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and Vince Vaughn, Ferrell is also helped by cameos from stars including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and even Tim Robbins. Everyone named blatantly enjoys themselves as well. With countless improvisation parts, the film exploits talents that some of these stars are naturally gifted at.
Unfortunately for "Anchorman", irrelevant of how good the cast is, at times it just isn't funny. Starting slowly, it possesses one or two good jokes for the first thirty minutes. Almost torturous to watch, you find yourself reaching for the control but never being able to turn over. Like a Howard Stern radio show, you continue to watch the film, not because you particularly enjoy it, but because you want to see what random comment will come next.
Perhaps this is the key thing about this film. As it progresses, it does gradually become funnier and funnier. If you compare this advance though with the ever growing randomness of events, there is a distinct similarity. The scene involving Jack Black for example is well thought up and conceived, but how the scene progresses is just so obscure, that you find yourself unable to stop laughing.
As the film approaches it's conclusion, this complete randomness gets even worse. In a scene involving bears towards the end, you wonder how the film will solve a problem, and just as you begin to construct a rudimentary idea in your brain involving stones and rope, along comes a conclusion which you would never have been able to predict in a million years. As a result, you DO find yourself laughing, but the question should really be whether you laugh at the jokes, or laugh at the complete disregard for sensible plot development. The story is random, but it can be funny.
"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" should have been Will Ferrell's biggest film to date. Starring the comedian in a role he is brilliant at, he is also helped by an able and experienced cast. Ultimately though, for long periods the film just isn't that funny. Getting increasingly random as it progresses, there are moments when you do find yourself falling off your chair in laughter, but ultimately these are just a bit too short in number for the film to be worth the effort. If you want to watch Ferrell at work, your better off with "Elf".