Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

There is a subgenre of flimsy-premise comedy that Saturday Night Live alumni seem to specialize in that I've decided to dub the "wouldn't it be funny if" movie--as in, wouldn't it be funny if Will Ferrell wore a bad wig and a bushy mustache to play a phony-baloney male chauvinist news anchor in the 1970s? Infuse that concept with sophomoric sex jokes (wouldn't it be funny if Christina Applegate played the country's first female news anchor, who threatens Ferrell's insecure manhood?) and enough random, unrelated, one-off gags, ad-libs, and furious mugging to fill six reels of film, and this lazy, lowbrow would-be-comedy is what you get. Director Adam McKay (a former SNL writer) has a sharp eye for bite-sized broad chuckles and loony comical minutia, but even at its best, the cast's inconsistent clowning cannot make up for the fact that Anchorman relies on empty-headed conventionality for its stupidly predictable story. I mean, does Applegate really have to forgive Ferrell for being an insufferable jackass so McKay can slap on a so-called happy ending? Does he really think audiences would care if Ferrell didn't get the girl? Not a necessary purchase. [Note: Available in either “unrated” or PG-13 widescreen or PG-13 full screen versions, DVD extras on the “unrated” version include “uncensored” (a.k.a. naughty language) audio commentary by co-writers director Adam McKay and star Will Ferrell, the 11-minute spoof featurette “A Conversation with Ron Burgundy” (held “courtesy of the Museum of Television & Radio”) a nine-minute “making-of” featurette, eight minutes of bloopers, 22 deleted scenes (29 min.), the four-minute cast music video “Afternoon Delight,” the four-minute segment “Ron Burgundy at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards” featuring “Burgundy's” interview with Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Ron Burgundy's “ESPN Audition” (2 min.), cast/filmmaker bios, text production notes, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so film.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 31, 2010—Paramount, 2 discs, 98 min., not rated, $24.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's Anchorman sports a great transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by director Adam McKay and actors Will Ferrell, Lou Rawls, Andy Richter, Kyle Gass, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Christina Applegate), the bonus cobbled-together Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (93 min.), deleted and extended scenes (54 min.), a cast table read (19 min.), cast audition tapes (18 min.), an intro commentary for The Lost Movie by Ferrell and assistant Aaron Zimmerman (12 min.), “A Conversation with Ron Burgundy” (11 min.), interviews with Rebecca Romijn, Jim Caviezel, and Burt Reynolds (10 min.), a Cinemax “making-of” featurette (10 min.), a Comedy Central Reel Comedy featurette (9 min.), rehearsal footage (9 min.), bloopers (8 min.), “Playback Video” character footage (5 min.), fake PSAs (4 min.), Ron Burgundy's award speech (3 min.), the “Afternoon Delight” recording session (3 min.), “Happy Birthday AMC Loews” with Ron Burgundy addressing the theater chain (3 min.), the ESPN SportsCenter audition tape from Ron Burgundy (2 min.), “Commercial Break” outtakes (2 min.), the “Afternoon Delight” video, TV spots and trailers. Also included are “The Many Months of Burgundy” 32-page diary, and 12 trading cards. Bottom line: although receiving mixed critical reviews, this comedy—debuting on Blu-ray loaded with extras—is very popular with Ferrell fans.