Afternoon Delight ... Sorta

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2004)

Greetings again from the darkness. Fellow SNL writers and alum (Director) Adam McKay and Will Ferrell deliver a decent comedy with solid writing and mediocre direction. It misses being a great comedy because it fails to provide any "Classic moments or lines" that we associate with the great ones. We can all quote lines from "Blazing Saddles", "Office Space" and "Caddyshack", but my guess is "Anchorman" will fade to black. I say this despite the pure genius of Will Ferrell, who is the funniest guy working today in film. He prevents the film from sliding into nothingness. His physical presence and facial gestures are enough to keep the audience smiling ... but rarely howling. Christina Applegate ("Married With Children") is miscast and mostly awful in her poorly written role. Jury is out on whether she will make a successful transition to film. Overall, I was definitely hoping for better.