Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

I never had understood why Anchorman became the pop-cultural cornerstone that it did. Sure it had some great quotable moments – many of which have developed a life of their own as online jokes, animated gifs and quotes – but as an actual movie, Anchorman is just plain unfunny.

I did not laugh once while watching it; maybe a smile here and there – particularly when Steve Carell’s Brick Tamland was on screen. Perhaps I didn’t watch Anchorman with the right crowd, but a comedy should be able to function without others around to heighten the energy.

I think my main issue with the movie is that it was just a sequence of ad-libbed ‘funny’ SNL style skits loosely connected by the dull and frankly contrived through-line of Burgundy’s rise and fall as an anchorman. I can bet that if you re-watched Anchorman today it is painful obvious how haphazardly put together this movie is. It just drags along at a snail’s pace and the jokes always continue beyond the original point of being mildly amusing.

All in all, I think Anchorman lives on (and is much better) as out-of-context quotes and scenes that can be applied to numerous situations in day to day life. But comedy gem this films is not. At least the actors seemed to have had fun making it. 2/5

- James