You'll be more likely to scratch your head in puzzlement than to pull your mouth into a smile
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:186
Fresh:120
Rotten:66
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: It's a one-joke premise, but the movie is amiably dumb, and there are scenes of inspired goofiness.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $84,136,909
Synopsis: Will Ferrell ("Elf," "Old School") stars as Ron Burgundy, the top-rated anchorman in San Diego in the ‘70s. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica... Will Ferrell ("Elf," "Old School") stars as Ron Burgundy, the top-rated anchorman in San Diego in the ‘70s. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate - "View From the Top," TV’s "Married With Children"), Ron is willing to play along at first—as long as Veronica stays in her place, covering cat fashion shows, cooking, and other "female" interests. But when Veronica refuses to settle for being eye candy and steps behind the news desk, it’s more than a battle between two perfectly coiffed anchor-persons…it’s war. Will Ferrell co-wrote the screenplay for "Anchorman" with Adam McKay, a former "Saturday Night Live" head writer and founder of the Upright Citizen’s Brigade comedy troupe. McKay is also making his directorial debut on "Anchorman." Judd Apatow ("The Cable Guy," TV’s "Freaks and Geeks") is producing the film, with Shauna Robertson ("Meet The Parents," "Elf"), David O. Russell ("Three Kings," "Flirting With Disaster") and David Householter ("The Core") co-producing. "Anchorman" also stars David Koechner ("A Guy Thing"), Steve Carell ("Bruce Almighty") and Paul Rudd ("The Shape of Things," "The Cider House Rules") as members of Ron’s news team, and Fred Willard ("American Wedding," "A Mighty Wind") and Chris Parnell (TV’s "Saturday Night Live") as news producers. Kevin Corrigan (TV’s "Grounded For Life," "Slums of Beverly Hills"), renowned rap musician Chuck D (of Public Enemy), Tara Subkoff ("The Cell," "American Pie") and Maya Rudolph (TV’s "Saturday Night Live") appear as members of the radical underground group The Alarm Clock, which becomes the big news story of the day. [More]
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, David Koechner
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Steve Carell
Director: Adam McKay
Director: Adam McKay
Screenwriter: Adam McKay, Will Ferrell
Producer: Judd Apatow
Composer: Alex Wurman
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC
Reviews for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Although great in small doses, Anchorman struggles to sustain its concept through feature length.
I hoped for far more laughs, a sharper edge to the humor and a comedy that would attain the rank of other SNL alum works such as Caddyshack.
Anchorman may be uneven, but Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy is a character worth revisiting
An enthusiastic, harmlessly silly celebration of the empancipation of the TV newsroom.
This is a masterpiece of comedy, ready to be watched, re-watched, quoted and imitated for years to come.
Ferrell totally gets the anchorman of the 70s vibe and pulls off even the lamest lines without breaking a sweat
[N]inety endless minutes of some of the most stunningly incompetent filmmaking I’ve ever seen...
Will Ferrell headlines a great comedy cast in a story that is as ridiculous as it is hysterical.
It's hardly breaking news to tell you Will Ferrell's funny, but Anchorman's flights of lunacy need a little more story to keep us engaged.
Gags aren't allowed to develop; the characters are shuffled from location to location and from conflict to conflict without building momentum.
Captures the mood of a group of friends riffing, trying to make each other laugh with the most ridiculous nonsense they can think of
Isn't as strong as Dodgeball or Starsky and Hutch primarily because the satire inherent in these flicks isn't paid as much attention to this time around.
The humor of Anchorman is planted deep within a surreal 70s landscape where the jokes zing by so fast, you have zero time to ponder how out there they really are.
While malapropisms and anachronisms do have their places in cinematic comedy, it's very tough to make them the foundation for a story.
A 'Stupid Comedy' that gleefully celebrates the absurd and actually trusts its audience to be smart.
The whole exercise has the smug feeling of a Kevin Smith film-- a cameo dumpster that doesn't even have the wit to kill Danny Trejo.
This is a wobbly comedy rooted too deeply in three- or four-minute TV-style set pieces, which misfire more often than not.
Remember the "Spanky and Our Gang" episodes where the boys wouldn't let Darla into the treehouse? Imagine that plot in the all-white-guys world of 1970's television news.
It is not as maniacally uninhibited as Old School or as dementedly lovable as Elf, but its cheerful dumbness is hard to resist.
Latest News for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
June 02, 2009:
Will Ferrell Talks Land of the Lost
Ahead of the release of the comedy-adventure Land of the Lost -- a big-screen adaptation of Sid and Marty Kroft's psychedelic TV series from the '70s -- Rotten Tomatoes got the... More...
May 27, 2009:
Will Ferrell Talks Anchorman Sequel ![]()
Hope you've been staying classy, San Diego -- Will Ferrell says discussions for an "Anchorman" sequel are taking place. More...
July 25, 2008:
Weekly Ketchup: Anchorman 2, Dracula: Year Zero, Twilight Zone and Much More
In this week's Weekly Ketchup we've got the latest on plenty of remakes and sequels coming your way. Plus, check back Monday for an extra special edition of the Ketchup, in... More...
June 06, 2008:
Steve Carell Would Totally Make Anchorman 2 ![]()
Steve Carell has told MTV that he has "some inklings" about what Adam McKay has in mind for Anchorman 2, and he's "absolutely" interested in coming back for the sequel. More...
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