With Anchorman, Will Ferrell has pretty much shown that he is a funny guy. His humor is very unique and with Anchorman he goes out of his way to deliver a very unique type of humor. Its extremely rare to find a comedy that doesn't find its way into failed punch lines and jokes that fall completely to the floor. While Anchorman actually has a few failed jokes, most of the comedy is delivered solidly.
So, sure, Anchorman is a funny film, but is there an interesting story and when its not funny does the movie roll along like a parody. Fortunately, Anchorman does move along as a parody and its actually very interesting in some parts. Anchorman shows the many ways that women can persuade men towards their liking and this film also combines a share of embarrassing things that can happen while you are on air.
Director Adam McKay has hardly any experience as a director and writer for that matter before he made Anchorman. He worked with Will Ferrell before in Saturday Night Live as a writer and a director. That is all that Adam really had under his sleeve, but now with Anchorman, perhaps he can become more established. He, of course will probably be developing more comedic films in the future.
With what I have said, the crew was rather solid in their part, but overall the film wouldn't have worked if a comedic Ron Burgundy wasn't chosen. Fortunately, the choosing of Ferrell worked and this is an enjoyable film. Fresh from last years Christmas comedy Elf, Ferrell is top notch and his future holds many more enjoyable movies. One which will hit theatres next year is Bewitched, which Ferrell will star alongside Nicole Kidman.
Anchorman is a film that has minor flaws, but luckily, most are forgettable. However, there are times in Anchorman that it feels it stalls itself with situations and dialogue that neither advance the story nor do they establish anything. Its clearly made up as the film as progressing and again it only hurts the overall film minorly. An example of what made up for the flaws are surprise appearances by other comedy actors which I won't spoil.
Ron Burgundy had a rather interesting co-anchor and that was Veronica Corningstone who is actually played by Christina Applegate. She acted surprisingly believable alongside Will Ferrell and while not being the center of comedy, she delivered her share. This film also stars Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana and Steve Carell as Brick Tamland which work with the two main characters.
Along with Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Anchorman stands next to it as two of the better comedies you'll see this summer. With a summer packed with action films and epics, its good to relieve yourself and enjoy quite a few laughs. As a comedy Anchorman works and as a film, while its not outstanding filmmaking, its certainly a tad above average.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy will certainly not be a legend, but as a film it delivers what audiences are look for at a time as such. For Will Ferrell this is a step up and its good to see comedies that don't end up dead in the water. If we learned something while enduring Anchorman, one should take into account that women have a very good amount of power.
