Anchorman | ||||
Adam McKay Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen 2004 |
Clueless, blow-dried TV anchors and the tawdriness of 1970s pop culture are colossal, can't-miss-with-a-peashooter targets for comedy. Or maybe not, because Will Ferrell goes after them in "Anchorman" with gusto and a script that straddles the smart, silly and stupid, and he doesn't get as many laughs as he garnered with the sweeter "Elf" and the more lowbrow "Old School." Ferrell is the "Anchorman" himself: Ron Burgundy, preening, fatuous star of the top-rated local newscast in San Diego during the mid-'70s. It would be fair to say that the character of Ron owes plenty to obnoxious news anchor Ted Baxter from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." All is grand with Ron and his news team, a boys' club of chauvinistic boneheads (Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Steve Carell), until ambitious, sexy Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) joins the station with the goal of becoming the first network anchorwoman in TV history. Veronica convinces the station manager (Fred Willard) to give her a shot at on-air reporting. Ron is simultaneously attracted to and threatened by the new gal, which allows Ferrell, who co-wrote "Anchorman" with director Adam McKay, to mock the way gender roles have changed in 30 years. But the most fun and funny come from cameos by Ferrell cronies Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Tim Robbins. | |||
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