FanUnity B(uzz)log

The first time I saw "Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy", I laughed a number of times but ultimately I was disappointed. I loved the premise, and I really wanted to love the film as much as "Old School." After his brilliant performance as Frank The Tank, I had enormous expectations for Will Ferrell.

As such, I wasn't prepared to accept "Anchorman" for what it is: a fun and stupid movie, so stupid that the word stupid should be spelled "stoopid" when describing it. It is as moronicly charming as its lead character, though not quite as dense as his weatherman Brick Tamland, who is barely functional.

The first half of the movie is packed with more humor than the second half, since it is where we get to know early '80s (fictional) San Diego-area icon Ron and his team of goofball sidekicks, the aforementioned Brick (Weather), Champ Kind (Sports) and on-the-scene reporter Brian Fontana. The boys club is thrown through a loop when the lovely Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is added to the team to sprinkle in a bit of diversity (a word they've never heard of before, though Ron is pretty sure that it was a ship sunk in the Civil War).

Immeadiately the guys set out to try to be the first swinger to seduce Veronica, leading to some hilarious scenes. Brian unleashes his secret weapon, an imported, rare cologne called "Sex Panther", and bathes in it (Ron tells him, to be honest, it smells like gasoline, and others are horrified by the pugent scent). Simpleton Brick invites Veronica to a pants party, which she decodes as him trying to say there's a party in his pants and she's invited. Ron tries working out his dumbells and flexing his hairy physique as she walks in his office, and manages to recover from initial failure to score a date that isn't a date, but ends up in sex anyway. We are treated to Ron's amazing skills with the jazz flute (think: Jethro Tull) during this escapade.

There are lots of things in "Anchorman" that are dumb and not funny, but there's plenty of dumb funny stuff to make it a worthwhile film. It's not a classic, but Ron Burgundy is a wonderful character and there are some really, really funny scenes. In a way, it would have been better if the movie was shorter. Ron would have made a phenomenal SNL skit, but there isn't really enough there for consistently excellent full-length movie. It's definately worth a watch though, and maybe a second because there are some fun jokes you don't catch the first time. Upon my second viewing of "Anchorman", I appreciated it for what it was and focused less on what it wasn't.

3/5 Stars.