Life was going swell for San Diego’s married TV news co-anchors Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) until their split promotion/firing.
Burgundy’s jealous rage leads to their marriage separation, but he’s not unemployed long as he’s handpicked for a brand new, 24-hour global news network in the Big Apple. Burgundy knows if he’s to win back Corningstone’s heart he must do what he does best: read the news with salon quality hair.
Assembling the best news team on the planet, investigative reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Champ “Whammy!” Kind (David Koechner) to cover sports, and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), the sweet, imbecilic weatherman, Burgundy sets his sights on New York City, the country, and the world.
We say, “Stay classy, _________.”
TAYLOR: The first Anchorman movie became a kind of cult film. It did fairly well in its initial release, but then became the film that wouldn’t die. It might be Will Ferrell’s most popular film. Certainly, now that it has Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, it has to be his most popular character. I was a fan of the first film and I’m happy to say that Anchorman 2 doesn’t disappoint. It’s every bit as absurd and ridiculous as its predecessor. It reminded me of a cartoon. Where technically, the film might not always make sense (in terms of scene transitions, continuity, even wardrobe), or perhaps even be seen as “bad film-making,” I am easily able to forgive its faults simply because it repeatedly made me laugh out loud, which is no small feat.
Within the first 10 minutes, I found myself wondering, “How did he go from… Oh, wait, shut up brain! This is Ron Burgundy.”
HOWE: I found myself laughing about 20 per cent through this movie. It’s not that I didn’t find it funny because it is, it’s just that I wanted a little bit more from it. I would have to say the original Anchorman is my favourite Ferrell movie. This time around, at nearly two hours, I was wishing it would end.
TAYLOR: The film takes place in the early 1980s and with the birth of the 24 hour news network (along with a host of other cable channels,) it becomes a bit of a social commentary, which I usually appreciate. The first Anchorman focused on women’s rights in the 1970s and the sequel allows Burgundy to birth the American “non-news” format that we’ve all become familiar with: sensationalism, synergy, speculation, the three-pronged attack that turned the news from what we need to hear to what we want to hear.
HOWE: The highlight for me was Brick’s love interest, Chani, played by the fantastic and talented Kristen Wiig. She plays so well off Carell’s character, what they should do now is a spin off of these two. Now that would be funny.
TAYLOR: There are so many guest stars in this film that to list them all would waste valuable words in this review, plus, it’s kind of fun to see who is going to appear next, some of them are surprising. In short, if you liked the first Anchorman, you must see this one. If you hated the first Anchorman and you don’t like silly satire, you won’t like this one either.
— Taylor gives Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues 3.5 bowling balls out of 5.
— Howe gives it 2.5 dropped files out of 5.
The film is currently showing at the Galaxy Cinemas in Vernon.
— Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are film reviewers based in Vernon, B.C.
