ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY

Director: Adam McKay (no major film work)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell

A silly, silly, silly comedy with lines like: "The name 'San Diego' comes from the German, meaning a whale's vagina". That's just not funny. Some of the extreme silliness in this film appealed to me, however. Whether that means it's good, or not, I have no idea. Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy is, as expected, a broad absurdity of a character with some funny lines, rather than a funny character. This is a problem of most of Ferrell's work. Rather than the best of Dan Akroyd's, or Bill Murray's, or Chevey Chase's characters from the 80s and 90s, Ferrell gives us characatures more akin to Adam Sandler's WaterBoy for instance. These people he plays aren't even vaguely human. Once Ferrell learns to make that distinction (if he makes it), I expect big things from him. There's no doubt he's a funny guy.

Standouts: Moderately funny in places. Steve Carrell was a hoot.
Blowouts: Entirely unfunny in other spots.

Grade: C+