I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to see that there’s someone in Hollywood who thinks it’s possible to make a comedy – a really funny, hip comedy – without falling back on bathroom humour as its staple laugh-getter. It’s even more reassuring that one of the Farrelly brothers – kings of gross-out comedy – was able to make this happen as co-writer. Now, don’t get me wrong – there’s crudeness here, to be sure. Mostly of the sexual variety. But at least Farrelly and co-writer/ director Adam McKay have managed to steer clear of the bathroom. And they’ve produced a whole lot of laughs in the process.
Will Ferrell is one funny guy, and with Old School, Elf and now Anchorman, he has pulled off three very different characterizations, each loveable in a pitiful sort of way, and each hilarious. He’s at the top of his game here, playing San Diego television news anchorman Ron Burgundy in this 1970s-set comedy that’s peppered with extremely funny moments. Clearly, Hollywood realizes that Ferrell is a hot property, as he’s got no fewer than 11 big screen roles – large and small – lined up for 2004 and 2005 releases. And with his ability to play stupid people of all sorts, they’ll all be worth checking out.
The story here revolves around Burgundy’s struggles with the changing social fabric of the ‘70s. A young woman (Christina Applegate) has come into the newsroom, and Burgundy doesn’t know quite what to make of her – except for the obvious requirement that he must do his best to bed her. That accomplished (with the assistance of an impromptu jazz flute performance at a local restaurant on their first date), Burgundy is left with figuring out how to handle the relationship in the workplace. And when the inevitable happens – she is made co-anchor – Burgundy’s ego is put at risk.
Making all this more troublesome – and a lot more funny – is the presence of three other guys on Burgundy’s on-camera team. His weatherman (Steve Carell), sports guy (David Koechner) and man-on-the-street reporter (Paul Rudd) are offended by the intervention of a woman into their team, and they goad Burgundy into taking action to try to keep this an all-male team. These three are extremely funny, with the movie’s goofiest moments revolving around their paranoia, and the four taking on competing television station news teams in West Side Story-style street fights. It’s completely ridiculous and over-the-top, and it’s great fun.
Anchorman is about as silly as comedy gets, and it works consistently. Mixing slapstick with lower key humour, McKay and Ferrell have managed to strike an almost perfect middlebrow comedy balance. Ferrell makes Burgundy as lovable as he is stupid, and the laughs come steadily throughout. Ferrell’s character is so dumb, he makes his boss – played by Fred Willard, master of fluffy-brained twit characters – seem almost on top of things.
To praise Anchorman for perceptive social commentary would be giving the movie more credit than it deserves, but it is fun to see the movie’s jabs at sex roles, big media egos and even public television. This isn’t just pratfalls and sexual humour, although there’s plenty of both. And while everyone takes their share of shots here, this isn’t mean-spirited comedy. It’s all in good fun, and McKay has pulled the movie’s various sketches together well.
Anchorman isn’t the sort of memorable comedy that will have people talking about it decades later, but it is more than passable fun and – rare these days – well worth the price of admission.
To praise Anchorman for perceptive social commentary would be giving the movie more credit than it deserves, but it isn’t just pratfalls and sexual humour.- Brian Webster
