It's got a few laughs but don't expect a whole lot more

Rating: 6/10 (7 December 2008)

To me, the Ron Burgundy story feels a lot like a Saturday Night Live sketch that lasts a bit too long--though it certainly has its funny moments. If you are expecting a film as hilarious as TALLADEGA NIGHTS, this one just isn't up to it, but it is an amiable time-passer.
Will Farrell stars as the title character--a very popular fictional anchorman in San Diego in the 1970s. Ron is consistently #1 in the ratings and on top of his game when a new female reporter (Christina Applegate) arrives at the station. She is competent and pretty but in the sexist 70s world of this film, that just isn't enough. Ron and the rest of the staff just want to sleep with her and won't give her a chance at any serious news stories. With all the double-entendres and sexist remarks, this aspect of the story seemed to go on forever--plus the relationship between the two characters just seemed flat and unconvincing--even for such a slight comedy. Their interactions or the sexist remarks might have been really funny one or two or even three times, but after a while it was all like beating the proverbial dead horse--it just stopped being funny. What were funny, though, were the strange random little plot twists here and there not related to the relationship between Farrell and Applegate. I loved the fight scene between the various reporters from the local stations as well as the scenes with the dog--they were so weird and funny that they made the film worth seeing. So in other words, when the plot was ignored, the film soared!
Overall, a reasonably funny but not especially inspired comedy that is about the same quality level as SEMI-PRO--both decent Will Farrell comedies, but certainly not as memorable as TALLADEGA NIGHTS or STRANGER THAN FICTION. This was mostly because the jokes fell pretty flat after a while and there wasn't enough to sustain an entire full-length film.