Mostly Goes Down Smooth

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2010)

'Anchorman', set in San Diego, tells the story of lead anchor Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) as he struggles to come to terms with the concept of sexual equality within the work place when Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) joins his local network. The film is very much a parody of 1970's local news anchors with an array of increasingly garish suits and facial hair indicating a strong emphasis on appearance, no matter how terrible the news. For instance in one scene involving a fight between several news teams there is just one rule, 'No touching of hair or face'. It also seems to indicate that the 1970's was a rather dull decade for news reporting with water skiing squirrels and a pregnant panda two of the biggest leads!
If you like your comedies big on character development and complex narrative, Anchorman is not for you. Whilst it does touch upon themes of gender inequality in a profession that was just coming to terms with the concept of women as 'anchorwomen', you do get the impression this is merely a sideshow for the gags and hence for the most part the film has almost zero depth. When Burgundy replies 'that doesn't make sense' in relation to one of the movies most quoted lines about the Sex Panter cologne '60% of the time it works every time' you know where he's coming from as must of the hundred or so one liners in this film ('Saint Damien's Beard!', Great Odin's Raven') will leave you scratching your head at the sheer absurdity of it all. Yet at the same time they are so off the cuff as to be equally brilliant and instantly remind you of classics such as 'Airplane!' or 'The Naked Gun' that were packed with so many verbal gags that a lack of story was irrelevant.
In fact, when the film begins and the credits reveal that this film was written by Will Ferrell himself you begin to wonder how much of the film was improvised as they went along. Whilst the humour can be crude('Why don't you go back to your home on Whore Island', 'Mr Burgundy you have a massive erection')it never steps over the line into gross out comedy. It is a testament to Ferrell that despite the fact that Ron Burgundy is one of the most self centred, sexist characters in film you find yourself strangely warming to him. Equally excellent is his co star Christina Applegate as his rival for lead anchor. There are also strong performances from the rest of Burgundy's team, for instance Paul Rudd as reporter in the field Brian Fantana and the intellectually challenged Brick Tamland played by Steve Carrell ('years later doctors will tell me I have an IQ of 48').
Whilst it is refreshing to see a comedy that provides consistent laughs throughout its duration it is perhaps fair to say in the main these are moderate rather than side-splitting. Also, whilst the fight scene between rival news crews is amusing it does seem little more than a who's who with cameos from Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller etc. It is perhaps fair to say that the material is at its funniest when it is closer to the bone in parodying the 'anchorman' of the 1970's. Despite this, this is still one of the best comedies of recent years and if you watch it without asking too many probing questions it appears nothing but a much of people having fun? And what's wrong with that? For in the main, as Ron Burgundy says 'it goes down smooth'.