Will Ferrell is making it

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2005)

Every time I watched Saturday Night Live (a program I don't watch at the moment), I always thought all the cast was good. They were all funny, and still are. But there were these two guys who were the funniest (in my personal opinion): Norm McDonald and Will Ferrell. Both of them were destined to movies. The first one chose television, and he's still stuck there. The second one, well, has the lead role in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy".
This movie is funny, very funny. And the main reason is its cast, with Will Ferrell at his best, as always (he also co-wrote the screenplay). He makes his character believable, although he's always overdoing it. He gives Burgundy the charm and ignorance he needs, and the good heart he shows to have. I laughed a lot watching him.
The supporting cast finds the place in this piece. I find in Paul Rudd a gifted actor. I loved him in "The Shape of Things", one of my favorite recent films. There, and here also, he does things naturally. Christina Applegate is the important female character, and probably the only one. She seems to be having a good time, overacting most of the scenes, but making them fun ("Take me to Pleasure City", funny). Steve Carell is fine, but his character seems very familiar to the one he played in "Bruce Almighty". And about David Koechner, well, he doesn't have much to do. His Champ could have been a better character.
And I have to say the small appearance by Danny Trejo and the cameos of Vince Vaughn, Tim Robbins, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller and Jack Black were awesome!
About directing and writing, I must say. McKay and Ferrell did the whole thing right. They have worked together in Saturday Night Live and they sure know what they are doing. They know each other, and it seems they had fun writing this stuff. I have no doubt that they'll be doing some other things soon. They love doing this! The rest of the environment is pleasant. There's a constant joy feeling in the set and it's contagious. The film has some scenes that reach stupidity. Maybe what this people were trying to do was that. Make a fool of them, or at least, of the characters they were playing. The scenes I'm talking about are the ones that make you feel like a total fool("Afternoon Delight", who responds to love with that?, very funny).
I could describe many more things, but I don't want to spoil the ride for you.
So I will just put it like this: "When in Rome..."