Absolutely not as funny as its reputation would suggest

Rating: 5/10 (22 January 2013)

Are there funny moments in Anchorman? Sure there are? Does it make me laugh from beginning to end? No, certainly not. Like Airplane it bombards the viewer with so many gags, hoping that they'll all work. Unlike Airplane, it fails. Most of the scattershot attempts at humor are just terrible. What's the deal with the gang suddenly singing 'Afternoon Delight'? Is this supposed to be hilarious? It's nothing. It slows down the movie. The narration is completely unnecessary and the hype, within the movie, around Ron Burgandy is distracting. He's not really a great character and exists in his own world of surreal nonsense instead of being more reality-based like the lesser characters (much like Jim Carrey with Ace Ventura). Had there been a more human element to Burgandy it might have made for a slightly better movie.
The thin story, so weak it cannot stand on its own two legs, has a woman arrive at a male-dominated newsroom in 1970s San Diego determined to prove she can be just as good. The men react with horror. They clash. The material is so thin it is 2-dimensional. If you need any more proof check out the utterly terrible 'lost' Anchorman movie Wake Up, Ron Burgandy, a so-called movie assembled from deleted scenes and plots. Much of Anchorman should have been deleted too, but then the running time would barely exceed 70 minutes. Adam McKay and Will Ferrell simply did not have enough mileage for a feature length movie with this anorexic premise.
For all his screaming and attention-seeking it's somewhat ironic that Will Ferrell's never became a superstar, while supporting actor Steve Carrell went on to much bigger and better things. He's clearly the best actor of the bunch and the movie would be substantially even less funny without him.
It is sporadically funny. It is not as funny as the mass hysteria would lead you to believe. It is not a classic.