I stumbled upon Anchorman
- The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, by accident during my routine movie research.
Released in 2004, it stars Will Ferrell, and is supposed to be based on true
events, documenting the male dominated news channel industry during the 70’s.
As with most Will Ferrell movies, audiences get the usual dose of big, dumb,
silly, and obnoxious humor. Set in a period where commercial industry was male
dominated, it covers the theme of the emergence and recognition of female
talent. The beauty of it was the rather strong theme which was exposed to the
viewers in casual and comic manner. While the movie shares intertextuality with
the television series Mad Men in some
sense, it manages to constantly keep things light and cheesy. There is a
romance element woven into the plot, which runs parallel to the main theme, but
does not interfere or take away from the key focus; that being the rise and
fall of Ron Burgandy, and the shift to women in news anchor roles. The movie has it’s over the top moments,
where channel anchors behave almost like superheroes, living life at a level
that most mere mortals can’t relate to. Co-written by Will Ferrell, it’s clear
that the Ron Burgandy role was meant for him. Ferrell was impeccable in his
portrayal, and while it’s easy to give credit to serious drama performances,
people easily overlook perfection in comedy roles such as this. His co-star Christina
Applegate, and band of brothers per se, played by Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David
Koechner all do splendid jobs, making for one well put together comic look at
the 70’s newsroom. If you’re usually the kind to sink your thoughts and mental
faculties in Oscar nominated movies, then Anchorman
- The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, is probably not right for you. But if you’re
looking for crazy situational comedy, randomness, and cheesy dialog and
performances, which are quality funny, then I’d recommend you give this one a
watch. The material I was sampling was a
1080p rip from a Bluray source. Colors were bright and vivid, highlighting the
oddly colorful and bright clothing adorned by the cast of the movie. Sound was
presented by means of a 6 channel DTS soundtrack. Positional sound was limited,
but there was some use of surround. Importantly the dialog was crisp and clear.
