Comedies in movies come and go in phases. Dating back to the slapstick of the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges and the screwball comedies of the 40's and 50's. Much like these types of comedy films, the emergence of dumb, over-the-top comedies centered around ridiculous characters in everyday situations began in 2004 with the now immortal Anchorman. The success of this movie set the stage for a series of similar films, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, Balls of Fury, Knocked Up, I Love You, Man, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Goods, Semi-Pro, The Other Guys, Step Brothers, Hot Rod, and many more are all part of the wave of comedies that feature dumb, eccentric, but lovable characters dealing with changes in their lives all in the same kind of humor pioneered by Will Ferrell and company in Anchorman. These comedies are not somewhat out of vogue, and now we are in a time where there really isn't a dominant type of comedy movie in theaters, but like the local anchormen of the 1970s, there was a time when they were king.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, tells the tale of Ron Burgundy (Ferrell), the number one local anchorman in San Diego poised to take on the role of network anchor. At the beginning of the film, the world is Ron's oyster, and he knows it. After successful broadcasts he throws lavish parties and women throw themselves at his feet. At Ron's side is the rest of his delightfully named news team: Champ Kind (David Koechner) on sports, Brick Tamland (a scene-stealing Steve Carrell) on weather, and the man on the street, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd). Together, these four are an unstoppable force, crushing other news teams in their wake. However, trouble occurs when the stations director (Fred Willard) tries to add diversity to the team by bringing in a woman. Enter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), a career driven woman tired of dealing with the sexism of her profession, but determined to one day become an anchor herself. Burgundy is quick to woo Corningstone, but after an unfortunate incident which causes Ron to miss a broadcast, Veronica successfully replaces him and becomes co-anchor. This strains the relationship, and Ron's weakness of reading anything that gets put on the teleprompter causes him to get fired. Will Ron ever work again in the news business? Will Veronica achieve her dream of becoming a network anchor? Who will cover the big story of a pregnant panda at the zoo? You'll have to watch and find out.
This movie is so endlessly quotable. Lines like, “I'm Ron Burgundy?” “My apartment smells of rich mahogany,” and “Where did you get your clothes, the toilet store?” are heard everywhere even now, eight years later. But this movie also contains some hilarious scenes that are not based on the ridiculous dialog of the characters. The incredible flute solo and the unforgettable, cameo filled, roman gladiator style brawl between all of the local news teams are funny in their own right despite containing very few spoken lines as the delightful sight gags are more than enough to make us laugh. A poll on collegehumor.com ranked Anchorman as the third funniest movie of all time, behind only The Hangover and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. However, this is more than just a funny movie, it also has a heart and deals frankly with the issue of sexism in the workplace. While it doesn't quite tackle this issue as seriously as, say, Mad Men, the sentiment is still there which is something that is lacking in the other films of this style that would follow. After the recent success of The Artist, some folks on the internet couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between the plots of the two films.
Sure, the film is dumb, but its dumb in the smartest way possible. Its a perfect sendup of the ridiculous world of local news where stories like cat fashion shows, water skiing squirrels and pregnant pandas are the big stories, and egos loom large yet are fragile. This film set a formula for success that is still being copied to this day, where if you have a group of funny people and let them riff on an already funny script, you end up with a very funny movie. If you haven't seen this movie already, I highly recommend you do. It is a modern comedy classic.
Rating: 8/10 - Righteous
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