This film sunk, like a "Cannon ball" (Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (DVD))

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (DVD)
Date:	16/08/09 (147 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Absolutely none for me

Disadvantages: Poor acting, awful story line, not at all funny, boring....need I go on?

Written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, and directed by Adam McKay Anchorman: The legend of Ron Burgandy ("Anchor man") is a movie about the world of news reporting that was released back in September 2004.

Please note that this is a review of the film only and odes not cover the DVD or any of the additional and bonus features that the DVD may contain.

****Story line****

Ron Burgandy (Will Ferrell) is a well known, and highly respected anchorman based in San Diego in the 1970s. A traditionally male dominated society the world of news reporting has a shock when a feisty and ambitious reporter in the form of Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) joins the team.

At first Ron is not threatened by the new reporter, especially since she covers fashion, cooking and other "female" interests, however this feeling soon changes when Veronica stands in as anchorman and is promoted to co-anchor as a result. This change of status leads to all out war, which is further complicated by Ron and Veronica's shannigans after meeting at a party.

To make things worse Ron and his team, consisting of sports reporter Champion "Champ" Kind (David Koechner) and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), have to deal with an ongoing battle with the Evening news team at Channel 9, led by Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughan).

Will Ron and Veronica ever reconcile their differences? Will the male dominated world of reporting embrace women anchor "people"? What happens to Ron's team? Does Wes and his team ever pass Ron in the popularity stakes?

****Other characters****

The main cast are backed up by a large supporting cast with the main ones being:

i) Ed Harken (Fred Willard) - The boss at the channel
ii) Garth Holiday (Chris Parnell) - The boss' assistant
iii) Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) - Field reporter
iv) Frank Vitchard (Luke Wilson) - Anchorman for a rival channel

There are also many cameos including Ben Stiller, Tim Robins, Jack Black, Jay Johnston, Paul Tompkins, Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow amongst many others.

None of the other characters give outstanding or memorable performances and are equally as bad as the main cast, so they play a consistent supporting role. In most movies there are some good supporting actors but there aren't in this movie and all are very poor.

****My opinion****

In all the films I have seen him starring in Will Ferrell always plays a larger than life character that is loud, brash and in your face. In my opinion this doesn't make Ferrell versatile and he is a bit of a one trick pony and I cannot think of any other film where he has played anything different. In some films this over the top style works very well and is really funny which adds to the movie, such as in "Old School", but in some films I don't think that it works so well, such as in "Anchor Man". I would even go as far to say that I don't like Ferrell in these movies.

I found Ferrell cringe worthy to watch, especially the scenes where he keeps referring to his 'guns', i.e. his weedy biceps, and the erection scenes. Anyone can sit there and kiss their biceps, since it doesn't take much acting skill at all. Just because it is Ferrell that is doing this do the producers think it is going to be funny? I don't care if it is Ferrell, Gordon Brown, Madonna or anyone else for that matter I will not laugh at someone kissing their arms, it is just ridiculous.

Once again Ferrell teams up with Vaughan, which is a tried and tested formula although they are foes as opposed to friends in this movie. Despite being tried and tested the Ferrell/Vaughan partnership just doesn't work in this movie and I hate to say that that I found Vaughan just as boring to watch as Ferrell.

The acting in this movie is dire and I found it boring, un-inspiring and awful. I found all the scenes fake, cheesy and cringe worthy to watch, which is a shame. Like all movies Ferrell has starred in "Anchor Man" is supposed to be a comedy but I didn't find it remotely funny. I found many scenes failed to raise a smile, let alone a rib aching laugh out loud moment, which I was surprised about especially given how much my ribs ached at the end of "Old School". In consideration of the main cast and the large cast of supporting actors I am struggling to think of any actor that made an impression on me, which is strange since there is usually at least one actor that stands out but "Anchor Man" is an exception here. All the actors are as abysmal as each other.

I appreciate that the film is meant to be set in the 1970s but I thought the costume, hair-styles and general ambience was way off the mark and totally unbelievable, it was just too cheesy and far too much.

I admit that I am quite harsh on the story lines of many films but providing the acting is good and keeps me focused I will forget most story lines and get caught up in the moment. The story of this movie is tedious, un-imaginative and boring. I did not find it at all entertaining and the script writers have failed in their task in keeping me focused. I found the storyline totally ridiculous and the scene where Ron and are riding cartoon unicorns is stupid and adds absolutely nothing to the movie.

I find audio a powerful medium and in my opinion it can 'make or break' a movie. Some movies have an awesome soundtrack or fantastic sound effects but Anchor Man doesn't. The sound effects are severely lacking and I can't recall any kind of sound track, although there are some awful scenes where Ron is playing a musical instrument or his co-workers are singing (badly) together.

Many movies rely on bad language, innuendo and un-PC comments to be funny but Anchor Man doesn't. Maybe if the producers had incorporated these things this movie would have actually made me smile, or even laugh but there we go. The censors have rated this movie a 12A , which I think is more than fair. Because of the content I would say that this is an ideal movie for older children to watch with their parents, although I don't think it is entertaining at all.

I found this movie very slow and was waiting for it to gain momentum and get going, but it never did. I also found it a chore to watch and started clock watching after 10 minutes. I will always watch a movie to conclusion, regardless how bad it is, although I will admit it was a real challenge with this movie.

****Conclusion****

This is a pointless movie with an awful story line and poor acting and I cannot recommend it at all since I am struggling to see where it would fit. It would be useless for a night in with mates, it would be useless in a quiet night in with your other half and it would be useless for a rainy Sunday afternoon. I think it would be just as awful at any time and I would prefer to watch, or do something else.

If you are a Ferrell fan then you may want to watch this just so you can say you have seen every movie Ferrell stars in, but I think you will be disappointed since this movie does absolutely nothing for his acting ability.

A very poor movie.

****Other****

Run time - 94 minutes
Certificate - 12A
1 award (how did it get that?) and 9 other nominations

Summary: An absolutely terrible movie