Anchorman

ANCHORMAN

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: sexual references/innuendo, foul language

Rated:

Saturday Night Live entered the American consciousness in 1975 with unique stand-up comedy skits. Now, almost 30 years later, it seemed to have faded into obscurity. Well, almost. Former SNL writer Adam McKay and SNL alumni Will Ferrell (he's one of my favorite SNL actors along with Dana Carvey, Adam Sandler, etc.) combine their talents and efforts to produce a comedy poking fun of the 1970s and the feminist movement. It was written and produced after writers interviewed former San Diego Channel 10 news anchor Jack White and features some great (but few) shots of San Diego, CA. My primary reason to watch this film was because it featured my hometown.

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is a top-notch, egotistical news anchorman for Channel 4 news in the 1970's. His "team" is lead by an all male cast: ladies' man Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), bumbling oaf Champ Kind (David Koechner), and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell at his funniest), a mentally challenged news weatherman with an IQ of 48. Throughout the film, it's nothing but shag carpeting, polyester leisure suits and the occasional nightclub. "Anchorman" is completely decked out in 70s' duds. The guys get smug about their ratings (they have the number one spot) and manage to rub it off on some of the other news channels, especially the news team in the no. 2 ratings spot led by anchorman Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughn). These two news teams frequently get into brawls with one another (and with other news stations as well, including a Mexican channel led by an unnamed Mexican anchorman played by Ben Stiller).

Enter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), a news anchor who never really had a big break. Seeing the need for "diversity" on the news staff because of the lack of women on the news crew, news producer Ed Harken (Fred Willard) hires Corningstone. Soon after her arrival, Ron Burgundy and his buddies plot and scheme to get her off the air. Eventually, she takes Ron's place as head anchor on Channel 4 news. Throughout the film, despite their bickering differences, both Veronica and Ron manage to fall in love.

The film is rated PG-13 for a reason. Sexual innuendoes abound, often involving a "certain male body part." There is one scene where it is implied Ron and Veronica have sex after a night of drinks. Brian Fantana is known as a ladies' man. Champ Kind tries to hit on Veronica and poorly attempts to touch her cleavage. The violence in the film is pretty much slapstick-Comedy Central fare. There are News crews of rival news stations engage in street fights wieling weapons where Brick Tamland severs the arm of Wes Mantooth. Ron and Veronica have a fight in the newsroom and Ron forcefully pushes her against a desk and a wall. It is played for laughs but some women might see it as unfunny violence toward females. A guy on a motorcycle (played by Jack Black in a cameo appearance) kicks Ron's dog off the Coronado Bay Bridge which could be interpreted by some as animal cruelty (this was supervised by a local animal rights group so no animals were harmed). There is also cussing, too, which is no surprise to me since many PG-13 films have vulgarities (frankly, cussing is unnecessary). As the butt of a cruel joke, Ron accidentally drops the F-bomb during a live news report, which was uncalled for. Using foul language and treating sex like it was a fun activity for adults is not something God would approve and the Bible makes it clear that this is not the way we humans are to behave.

The film contains a moral to the story to try to counter the offensive content. The character of Ron Burgundy was narrow-minded, egotistical, and snobby and after all his friends left him, he realized how wrong he was in his ways, especially toward Veronica, the woman of his dreams. Anchorman is not a spiritually redeeming film, despite the moral to the story. It should not be seen by anyone under 15. I'll be frank; I've got mixed feelings about this movie. I admit to laughing and I honestly thought it was going to be funny (and being a citizen of San Diego, I felt it was my duty to watch the movie) and I did like it somewhat but the excess sexual references and the cussing just turned me off. After Ron's F-word, I almost walked out. Some individuals might also object to the portrayal of Brick Tamlane, the mentally challenged weather guy, since his thoughts and what he says are all made for laughs. It isn't even Saturday Night Live quality work; it's more like a bad SNL skit that lasts for 90 minutes. And the filmmakers should have used more scenery from S.D. (okay, so I'm picky).