BOMB Rating

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2005)

If I was Leonard Maltin and preparing a critique of this movie for my movie guide pocketbook, I would give it the BOMB rating. This is perhaps the worst comedy I have ever seen. I smell a rat - Blockbuster keeps running it's trailer over and over on their in-store monitors. Sounds like they're trying to scam us into renting this dreadfully stupid movie - hey, it worked on me - I should have known better - films by modern day SNL Alumnus' are usually for 12 year olds. I think a lot of 12 year olds would find their intelligence insulted.
Having worked in the broadcasting industry, I thought the premise of a stiff, pompous Southern California anchorman in the pre-cable news 1970s to be an interesting one and expected to watch an interesting story. And it starts off interesting, then unravels into such moronic dribble, that I spent the rest of the film debating whether or not to keep watching or turn it off.
The plot is extremely weak - a bunch of 3rd graders could come up a stronger plot - and the plot resolution at the end took little to no brainpower. Most of the characters in the film are unlikable. Christina Applegate and Fred Williard are the only actors in the film worth watching.
For real comic insight into the world of a 1970s featherweight anchorman, look for the hilarious Ted Baxter character on reruns of Mary Tyler Moore - a sitcom made during the 1970s.