Despite not doing well upon its initial theatrical release, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy became an incredible hit on DVD and continues to have a growing cult following even today. It's no wonder why a sequel with a larger budget and a bigger scope is now taking up an auditorium or two in your local multiplex. However, it took a while for the cast to get to this point. In fact, most of the people involved in making this film were totally unaware it was even happening until Will Ferrell announced it randomly on "Conan." It's here now and while it may not be as refreshing as the original, it's just as funny.
The film follows beloved news anchor Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) who loses his job to his wife Veronica (Christina Applegate) and decides to take up a job at the Global News Network, a revolutionary 24 hours news channel being promoted by Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker.) Ron gets Brian (Paul Rudd), Champ (David Koechner) and Brick (Steve Carrell) back together and soon they're faced with many challenges including the racial tension between them and African American boss Linda Jackson (Meagan Good.) However, Ron's main problem is Jack Lime (James Marsden)...a dreamy newscaster who starts a ratings war with Ron.
What this film does best is prove why Ferrell, Rudd, Koechner and Carrell are all so funny. That reason is that none of these four men are afraid to look absolutely ridiculous. In fact---all four of these men will actually go so far as to look like complete idiots if it means making someone, anyone laugh. I'd be lying if I said they didn't make me laugh extremely consistently. However, it's not just the pristine comic performances that hold this film up. The script by Ferrell and long time partner Adam McKay is incredibly clever in the way it presents ideas we all view as norms today (24 hour news, racial assimilation, ETC) and places the audience in a time in which these things did not exist.
While I laughed throughout this film's entire run, I did have a few problems. Let me preface my complaints by explaining that all of these complaints are forgiven because it's a comedy and I laughed out loud around a dozen times so it did its job well. The last half an hour, while being funny essentially turns into the most unrealistic "Family Guy" episode. Without giving anything away---all logic is thrown out the window and it settles for really low brow humor. Also---there is a plot that is introduced late in the film in which something happens to Ron and it just feels out of place. I laughed at this plot fairly hard but if it was cut out of the film it wouldn't have made any difference. That brings me to my final complaint. The film is way too long. If I were to study this film...I could have easily found 30 minutes that should have been cut out. For example--the plot that involves something happening to Ron that I just mentioned took up about 20 minutes of the film and easily could had been 10 minutes.
Like I said...all of these complaints are very much forgiven because there was hardly a second in the entire two hour running time in which I wasn't laughing. Although the film relies a lot on dumb, broad humor, the writing is still incredibly sharp and the performances are as top notch as they were in the first one from both returning actors and newcomers alike. I can't guarantee that everyone will love Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (the jokes may be too broad or dated for some) but I can say that I laughed harder at this film than most comedies of 2013 combined.
(4 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comic violence)
While the first works a bit better in my mind, this one's still got its hilarious moments that never lose its edge, despite being in a PG-13-rated movie.
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