Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

***Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy*** is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Adam McKay. McKay's directorial debut, the film was produced by Judd Apatow and written by McKay and Will Ferrell. It stars Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Steve Carell, The first installment in the *Anchorman* series, the film is a comedic take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the new Action News format.

## Plot

Hotshot television anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) welcomes upstart reporter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) into the male-dominated world of 1970s broadcast news -- that is, until the talented female journalist begins to outshine Burgundy on air. Soon he grows jealous, begins a bitter feud with Veronica and eventually makes a vulgar slip on live TV that ruins his career. However, when an outrageous story breaks at the San Diego Zoo, Ron may get a chance to redeem himself.

## Why It Rocks

1. Top-notch acting performeance, especially from Will Ferrell and Steve Carell as Ron and Brick, respectively.
2. Many memorable characters, especially Ron, Brian, and Brick. Even Baxter, Ron's dog, can be considered memorable due to his funny scenes.
3. Adam McKay's directing is fantastic, making his directorial debut.
4. The comedy is very hilarious that works on each scenes.
5. The soundtrack by Alex Wurman is excellent and includes many songs that were great and fitting.
6. Some good characters development.
7. The hilarious newscaster fight scene with lots of good celebrity cameos. Most Notably from Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson.
8. Some hilarious quotes such as “60% of the time it works every time.”

## The Only Bad Quality

1. Champ is somewhat unlikable due to his perverted and misogynistic personality, despite David Koechner's good performance.

## Reception

*Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy* received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 66% based on 202 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Filled with inspired silliness and quotable lines, *Anchorman* isn't the most consistent comedy in the world, but Will Ferrell's buffoonish central performance helps keep this portrait of a clueless newsman from going off the rails." Another review aggregation website, Metacritic, assigned a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film is now considered by many to be one of the best comedy films of the 2000s. Empire magazine ranked Ron Burgundy #26 in their "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll. Empire also ranked Anchorman at number 113 in their poll of the 500 Greatest Films Ever. Entertainment Weekly ranked Burgundy #40 in their "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years" poll and Ferrell said, "He is my favorite character I've played, if I have to choose one ... Looking back, that makes it the most satisfying thing I've ever done". He also stated later on that he had no idea that the film would take off like it did, saying "We had no idea that certain lines would be quoted the way they are and that the film would just take on this life after it left theatres, but thank God it did."