Review: Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

       When movies are made, there are usually some scenes left on the cutting room floor. Sometimes whole subplots are taken out, other times the plots are rewritten almost entirely. Such is the case with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Given that Anchorman was largely improvised I wasn't surprised to learn that many scenes had been cut out of the final product. I was surprised to learn that the original version of the film was almost an entirely different movie. This early version of the script made it so far into production that it got filmed and shown to a test audience. When this test audience didn't like what they saw, the film was rewritten and we got the comedy classic we know and love. However, the footage of that original plot still survives, cut together with other scenes that were excised due to length concerns, as Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie.

       While the scenes of this version of Anchorman obviously take place at the same time as Anchorman, a post-production voiceover tells us that the events of this film take place after the events of Anchorman. This causes some odd plot holes, especially concerning the relationship between Burgundy and Corningstone, but otherwise it's believable. Similar events from the first film transpire, but this time they are for different reasons. The big story in this version is a string of politically motivated bank robberies by a group of radicals who call themselves “The Alarm Clock” because they will “wake up the squares in this city of lies.” Ron tries to do some investigative journalism and unmask the leader of The Alarm Clock, but instead that leader just ends up stealing that news van in order to get his message out to the people. Ron gets fired from Channel 4 News because of the news van getting stolen, not because of dropping the F-Bomb on live TV. Soon afterwards, the members of The Alarm Clock kidnap Veronica Corningstone and Ron and the news team then try to rescue her.

        Because this movie is made of bits that got cut from Anchorman, it isn't as funny as Anchorman. However, it still does have it's moments. It's also less believable that a news team should try to take down a terrorist organization. It's simply too big of an idea to work for this movie, and I'm glad they scaled things back in the final product to just a baby panda being born. It just works better. They do try to rationalize the idea a little by saying that police sirens would cause the extremists to freak out and possibly hurt Veronica. They also reveal that the news team fought together in Vietnam, the mention of which unleashes the inner badass in the otherwise dopey Brick. That's not the only character development that is added in this film, there's also an extended scene where Champ confesses his undying love for Ron and his desire for them to run away to Vermont and adopt a child together. Furthermore, the scene at the kitty fashion show also serves a greater purpose in the plot other than humiliating Veronica as it is where the leader of The Alarm Clock works his day job. I was also surprised by the people who were cut entirely from the final product of Anchorman. Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Justin Long, and Kevin Corrigan all have roles that were entirely cut out of Anchorman. Rudolph and Corrigan are each members of The Alarm Clock, while Justin Long plays Fred Willard's ne'er-do-well son. Amy Poehler has a hilarious scene as a teller at a bank The Alarm Clock tries to rob. This movie is an interesting view into the moviemaking process, but numerous plot holes and a general unfunniness don't allow it to stand on it's own.

You can watch the entirety of Wake Up, Ron Burgundy on Youtube here

You can read my review of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy here