Frankly- sublime

Rating: 8/10 (28 September 2006)

One of the funniest movies of the last six years.
A winning combination of comedy talent given free reign to develop their (admittedly one dimensional) characters to provide a series of great compliments/contrasts that give the film a degree of depth.
At the top of the food chain is Applegate's Corningstone. She fulfills her ironic role of eye-candy-with-a-punch well (although she is perhaps the weakest of the bunch). She shoots down Farrell's Burgundy to great effect (the 'when in Rome' joke is a classic), and their relationship deals neatly with the film's moral message (chavinistic cartels are doomed to failure in the face of liberated women).
The plankton at the bottom is Carrell's Brick. Carrell clearly loved his role, and with McKay's assistance has managed the near impossible of making his every line an instant classic ('I ate a big red candle'... 'I love lamp'etc, ad.inf.)His absolute stupidity is cleverly highlighted to great comic effect by the fact even Burgundy can pick him up on his comments (r.e. 'I love lamp'- 'Brick, do you really love the lamp, or are you just saying that because you saw it?' 'I love lamp').
Koechner and Rudd are funny as they ham up their characters of oversexed hick and wannabee-Lothario-actually-wet-sap smoothie. Koechner's Champ is probably afforded the least opportunity to develop a real persona (but Koechner's caricature is so grotesque that it really isn't required!). In the UK, to break out the 'Sex Panther' has become a by-word for dressing/scenting up in a manner that dooms you to a score-free night from the get-go. I'm sure that's true in the USA as well.
Unsurprisingly didn't win any Oscars. But it was well worth the cinema ticket and the DVD purchase.
PS look out for Willard and Vaughn in peerless cameos.