Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy - Snapshot

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.

My Recommendation: Watch It (A cheesy over the top Will Ferrell comedy, set in the 70’s newsroom era)