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Anchorman

Will Ferrell is bigger than God right now, so it's only natural that he satirize another group of people who think they are bigger than God - television news anchors and reporters. Anchorman has very funny moments, and others that fall flat, but it's worth going to see this weekend.

Ferrell stars as Ron Burgundy - the #1 news anchor for the #1 rated news broadcast in 1970's San Diego. He's on top of the world, and loved by thousands, but it's all about to change. The station has hired a new reporter, and she's a woman! Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is invading the boys club, and the all-male news team doesn't like her, while Burgundy is falling in love with the newcomer.

Can Corningstone cut it? Will the boys drive her away? Will Burgundy be able to control himself?

Anchorman is equally hilarious, appalling and intelligent, but couldn't the movie have a little more of the intelligent and hilarious? Written by Ferrell and director Adam McKay, Anchorman often comes off as a great skewering of the subject including the portrayal of television newspeople as big children, the battle of the sexes and Burgundy's self-centered life, but Ferrell and McKay often revert to the easy joke, when something smarter could have been better than the potty humor presented to the audience. Less obvious jokes like the continuing troubles of news director Ed Harkin (Fred Willard) and his son, or the wild, superfluous exclamations by Burgundy are much funnier than the jokes about male genitalia (especially Willard, who can deliver the funniest lines with a straight face, which makes it all the funnier). In a way, Anchorman is funny in spite of itself thanks to the cast.

Ferrell is a great comedic actor, and he's smart enough to surround himself with a strong cast, while generously giving them a chance to get some laughs along the way. He is at his best as Burgundy's life unravels, which shows us Ferrell understands how to build up a character, find the vulnerabilities, and exploit them. He could be a great dramatic actor if given the chance, since this is what Hanks, De Niro and Pacino do all the time.

Ferrell is a master of the absurd, and takes advantage of that talent by giving Burgundy an undeserved pomposity and fragile ego. As writer and actor, he shows us how his and other characters who are so well known and popular are truly empty and lonely on the inside. No matter how rude or arrogant, you know each character will get his comeuppance, which provides the gang with plenty of chances to make us laugh, and that's what counts.

Paul Rudd portrays the embodiment of 1970's "tough" guy street reporter, but most of the supporting laughs go to Steve Carell as the dumb weatherman and David Koechner as the equally dumb, but louder, more demonstrative sports guy. Each one shows a different dimension of idiocy, but both are equally funny, especially Koechner, who gets to show us a whole other side to the macho sportscaster. Applegate is great as the female in the equation, and more than holds her own one-liner for one-liner with the guys, and her character's strength makes the movie bearable. It wouldn't be funny to see the guys play these mean jokes on Veronica if she couldn't dish it back, so Ferrell, McKay and Applegate smartly made her a tough cookie.

Anchorman is great at times (especially the best ending to a movie I have seen this year), and provides plenty of laughs, including cameos from people you love to laugh at, but it could have been 100% intelligent, instead of 50% intelligent and 50% potty humor.

2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4)

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