best comedy i have seen in years

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2006)

Two summers ago, I saw Anchorman and was completely blown away. I am sure I am the minority in thinking it was one of the best films of the year, but when done well a pure comedy can be just as much a show of great film-making as anything else. Anchorman, a spoof of chauvinism and male insecurity, is set in a 1970s newsroom in San Diego where star news anchor Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his news team become threatened by the arrival of a woman (Christina Applegate) in the newsroom.
Anchorman is the best display of improvisational comedy on screen since Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show). It's jokes come from the creation of funny characters. The beauty of Anchorman wasn't so much the comic intensity of Will Ferrell, but the fact that every other actor in the movie could keep up with him in creating such zany characters. Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carrell as Ferrell's team of sidekicks all have breakout roles as his news anchor team and Applegate matches Ferrell line-for-line in their battle-of-the-sexes rivalry. Together, they all provide so much comic energy and mine comic situations to such extremes, that it had me laughing throughout the entire movie.