Anchorman

At its worst, Anchorman is moronically stupid and dull. At its best, it is a riot of laughs. Most of the time, it falls somewhere in the middle, and one's appreciation of this film centers squarely on how one feels about Will Ferrell. Ferrell has a sense of humor where he will often keep going on a joke, past the point of being funny. Sometimes, this actually makes the joke funnier. Other times, it flops miserably. His likability tests the limits here as Ron Burgundy, the most popular news anchor in San Diego. It's the 1970s, and everything was a lot simpler.

The rest of the film doesn't work as well. The weakest element concerns a rumble between rival stations. It's not silly, it's stupid. There's also a cartoon sequence between Corningstone and Burgundy that is just weird. Most of the humor is of the stupid, slapstick type. An obviously fake dog is kicked off a bridge. The funniest stuff deals with Burgundy, who is exceedingly dumb at points, reading the teleprompter incorrectly or acting like an ass on live television. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that there is not enough story or joke material to sustain a feature length Anchorman. The movie flames out quickly, running on fumes for most of its duration. This movie is great for watching one time, but thats about it.