No News is Good
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Review by Ross Anthony

Even though Will Ferrell has obvious comedic ability, the previews for this film looked horribly dull. In fact, given a busy week, I'd pulled the plug on this screening. But since my web manager wanted to see it -- we went. Surprise surprise, the movie outplays its trailer.

The opening credits echo the dull promise of stupid attempts at funny. And in fact, the picture does indulge five or ten minutes in impotent silly failures. But, from there the ball starts to roll, picking up big well-deserved laughs in between ever decreasing non-funny moments.

My web manager says, "It's as if they came up with a bunch of ideas and decided to try them all on screen." Some miss, but some hit, and others hit really hard. The "Let's just be friends scene" with Ferrell and Applegate had me laughing so hard, tears were streaming from the sides of my eyes.

Often times, films so silly have a hard time finding a way to end strong (SNL-disease). But "Anchorman" takes the challenge and handles it quite well. Though not consistently funny, the unfunny moments aren't winceable and the film does have a good message and climaxes well.

Director McKay says, "We always did multiple takes, including one as written, so in the end, we had six choices for almost every scene in the editing room."

(BTW: The Daily Show's Steve Carell wins the funniest person in the film award!)


  • Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Copyright © 2004.
  • Starring Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen.
  • Directed by Adam McKay.
  • Screenplay by Adam McKay.
  • Produced by Judd Apatow at DreamWorks.

Grade..........................B+ (2.5/4)

Copyright © 1998-2023 Ross Anthony, Author - Speaker - Solo World Circumnavigator In addition to reviewing films and interviewing celebs at HollywoodReportCard.com, traveling the world, composing great music, motivational speaking, Mr. Anthony also runs his own publishing company in the Los Angeles area. While traversing the circumference of the planet writing books and shooting documentaries, Mr. Anthony has taught, presented for, worked &/or played with locals in over 30 countries & 100 cities (Nairobi to Nagasaki). He's bungee-jumped from a bridge near Victoria Falls, wrestled with lions in Zimbabwe, crashed a Vespa off a high mountain road in Taiwan, and ridden a dirt bike across the States (Washington State to Washington DC). To get signed books ("Rodney Appleseed" to "Jinshirou") or schedule Ross to speak check out: www.RossAnthony.com or call 1-800-767-7186. Go into the world and inspire the people you meet with your love, kindness, and whatever it is you're really good at. Check out books by Ross Anthony. Rand() functions, Pho chicken soup, rollerblading, and frozen yogurt (w/ blueberries) also rock! (Btw, rand is short for random. It can also stand for "Really Awkward Nutty Dinosaurs" -- which is quite rand, isn't it?) Being alive is the miracle. Special thanks to Ken Kocanda, HAL, Jodie Keszek, Don Haderlein, Mom and Pops, my family, R. Foss, and many others by Ross Anthony. Galati-FE also deserves a shout out. And thanks to all of you for your interest and optimism. Enjoy great films, read stirring novels, grow.

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Last Modified: Saturday, 16-Sep-2006 08:21:24 PDT