Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Adam McKay

Writers (WGA):

Will Ferrell (written by) &
Adam McKay (written by)

Release Date:

9 July 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

His news is bigger than your news.

Plot:

Ron Burgundy is San Diego's top rated newsman in the male dominated broadcasting of the 1970's, but that's all about to change when a new female employee with ambition to burn arrives in his office.

Plot Keywords:

1970s | Anchorman | Newsroom | Cat | Sexism

Awards:

1 win & 9 nominations

Cast

Will Ferrell	...	Ron Burgundy
Christina Applegate	...	Veronica Corningstone
Paul Rudd	...	Brian Fantana
Steve Carell	...	Brick Tamland
David Koechner	...	Champ Kind
Fred Willard	...	Ed Harken
Chris Parnell	...	Garth Holliday
Kathryn Hahn	...	Helen
Fred Armisen	...	Tino
Seth Rogen	...	Eager Cameraman
Paul F. Tompkins	...	MC
Danny Trejo	...	Bartender
Scot Robinson	...	Waiter at Tino's
Ian Roberts	...	Stage Manager
Darcy Donavan	...	Hot Blonde

Also Known As:

Action News (USA) (working title)
Action News! With Ron Burgundy (USA) (original script title)
Action Newsman (USA) (working title)
Anchorman (USA) (short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual humor, language and comic violence. (edited for re-rating)

Runtime:

94 min | USA:104 min (extended version) | Canada:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14A (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Netherlands:6 | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Ireland:12 | Norway:11 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12A | USA:R (original rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut DVD version) | USA:PG-13 (edited for re-rating) (certificate no. 40782)

Filming Locations:

Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: in the fight sequence between the news groups, when Champ throws another man incredibly far into a car window.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Sex Panther cologne scene, many of the colognes and lotions are from the present day and not the 1970s.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bill Lawson: [narration] There was a time, a time before cable. When the local anchorman reigned supreme. When people believed everything they heard on TV. This was an age when only men were allowed to read the news. And in San Diego, one anchorman was more man then the rest. His name was Ron Burgundy. He was like a god walking amongst mere mortals. He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo. In other words, Ron Burgundy was the balls.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs West Side Story (1961)

Soundtrack:

Aqualung

Consistent and thorough silliness keep this above-average comedy afloat

I went to "Anchorman" expecting another super-mainstream, lowest-common-denominator, SNL-derived romp. Now, these aren't the worst movies in the world, to be sure. "Happy Gilmore" and "Old School" are pretty agreeable ways to while away the time. But usually about an hour in to these affairs, I've had enough of the broadness and predictability, which starts to get downright oppressive. It's not just that they're lowbrow--it's that they're so overwhelmingly, disappointingly conventional.

Luckily, this isn't what "Anchorman" is. "Anchorman" is a refreshingly off-kilter outing from an unlikely source--Will Ferrell, the current reigning lord of middle-of-the-road fratboy Sandlerism. The film has a lot more in common with Mel Brooks and Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker than anything in the SNL family tree. It prizes out-and-out silliness and absurdity over bathroom humor and penis jokes (though there's plenty of the latter, don't worry), and pulls it off admirably. In essence, the key to this stuff is never letting off of the goofiness even for a second--the audience should never be allowed to take anything seriously.

"Anchorman" achieves this with exceedingly silly and bizarre dialogue complemented by killer comic performances from Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Vince Vaughn and Steve Carrel. You'd have to be lobotomized to maintain a straight face through lines like "It's made with bits of real panther. So you know it's good." and "I'm riding a big, furry tractor!" The direction and pacing are also pretty solid at times, and the requisite celeb cameos are very nicely done (especially in one particular scene which I wouldn't dream of ruining).

The film's not without its flaws, certainly. Chief among them is the wasting of one of the best comic character actors in the biz: Fred Willard. If ever there was someone born to play a smarmy local TV newsman, Willard is it. But he's inexplicably cast here as a dull station suit, while David Koechner plods through the sportscaster role that was clearly meant for him--passable but certainly not as inspired as Willard would have been. Also, I think that the story would have benefited if Vaughn and his cronies, the closest thing to villains in this lightheaded romp, had a little more face time.

But these are comparatively minor problems--the point is that Ferrel has given us something that's really funny in a way that's appreciably different from the endless SNL movie-mill. It's not Monty Python, but it is a healthy departure from what has become the comic mainstream. Most importantly, the laughs are frequent, long, and deep--check it out and you won't be disappointed.