Once upon a time, national newscasters were trusted, father-like figures who read the news and helped lead the country through both good times and bad. Nowadays, with the synergy of news and entertainment, they've become bigger than life, star personalities who must segue between real news and stories on cooking, celebrities and their broadcasts' own take on the reality craze. Of course, this didn't change overnight, but rather over several decades when local anchors and reporters dreamed of being the big shots today.
"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" tries to poke fun at that, the 1970s and the foray of women into starring roles in male-dominated professions. The results are a mixed bag, but since the film stars Will "I'll Do Anything For a Laugh" Ferrell, fans of the gung-ho performer will probably find it to their liking.
That said, and probably to no one's surprise, his is a skit-like character that somehow got a feature length film built around him. In fact, the film is far more of a series of separate send-ups and haphazard offerings than a cohesive piece of entertainment.
Of course, I wasn't expecting anything remotely resembling a sophisticated comedy -- since that's obviously not the point --but all sorts of odd comedic offerings are thrown into the mix apparently just because they're odd and potentially funny. How else can one explain Ferrell's character conversing with his dog that then later chats with a zoo bear -- in subtitles -- to call off a pending attack on some humans?
There's also an inner-city street rumble (with some Western music) between middle-aged TV anchors and reporters featuring cameos by Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins and more (that's actually somewhat fun as the stars keep arriving). A dog is punted off a bridge (an obvious fake, but also an obvious attempt to evoke the big laugh from "There's Something About Mary"), a group singing of the Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight," and even an outtake from "Smokey and The Bandit" smack dab in the middle of this film's outtakes.
There are some jabs at the 1970s -- the hair, clothes, etc. -- but nothing we haven't seen before (in the likes of "Undercover Brother") or that's as clever or funny as the 1960s spoofing that occurred in the "Austin Powers" films. The fun of them was in watching Mike Myers' swinger character appearing hopelessly outdated when in another time period (and continuing to act that way despite realizing how dumb he appeared). The politically incorrect material is similarly on display here, but it isn't as successful since it's in its era and simply because it's not that funny.
That includes various scenes of unenlightened men acting chauvinistic and/or blatantly treating women like nothing more than sexual objects. The joke's obviously on them, but the humor loses much of its punch around the third or fourth time it occurs (out of many more instances).
The filmmakers -- writer/director Adam McKay (making his debut after years of writing for "Saturday Night Live") and co-scribe Ferrell -- don't get as much mileage or laughs -- out of poking fun of men of that era -- as one would expect. They also miss the boat by letting some potential "War of the Roses" type material slip through their fingers.
After Ferrell's character has a fling with his coworker played by Christina Applegate, the two having a falling out over her becoming the broadcast's co-anchor. While there's name-calling and even an odd physical fight between the two, there isn't enough tit for tat material featuring each trying to outdo and/or sabotage the other. Even the one big instance of the latter -- that serves as a plot catalyst to change the story's direction -- is so telegraphed that you know it's coming long before it occurs. The filmmakers also miss out by not using '70s era culture, fads or possessions during such battling.
Intricately woven plots are not what these sorts of films are known for. Instead, it's the aforementioned assortment of goofy gags as well as the repeated one-note characteristics of its characters. With Ferrell ("Elf," "Old School") in place, you pretty much know exactly what you're getting and what to expect. Yet, and while I've never been as enamored with his comedy style as others have, I found Ron Burgundy to be one of his weaker characters.
Applegate ("View From the Top," "The Sweetest Thing") is okay playing the ambitious "straight man" character who disrupts his life, while Paul Rudd ("The Shape of Things," "The Object of my Affection"), Steve Carell ("Sleepover," TV's "The Daily Show") and David Koechner ("My Boss's Daughter," "A Guy Thing") generate an okay number of laughs or amusing moments (at least the first time around, after that some of it gets quite redundant).
The likes of Fred Willard ("A Mighty Wind," "Best in Show"), Vince Vaughn ("Dodgeball," "Starsky & Hutch") and Jack Black ("Envy," "The School of Rock") appear in various-sized roles with the latter joining the other cameos that only help exacerbate the haphazard and disjointed feel.
Diehard Ferrell fans and those looking for stupid and/or silly material may just enjoy all of that, but I just kept wishing the overall film were smarter. In fact, if you want to see a brilliant take on a self-centered, egotistical and pompous TV personality from the 1970s, go back and watch Ted Knight in "The Mary Tyler Moore" show.
To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, "I knew Ted Baxter for years and you, Ron Burgundy, are no Ted Baxter." "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" offers a few laughs (the best being in the outtakes), but not enough to score higher than a 4 out of 10.
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