Mustachioed lunkhead Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) gets fired and replaced by his wife Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), which provokes him enough to get his band of news goons together for a comeback. This time, they make waves on “GNN”, a game-changing new 24-hour news channel.
Somewhere in this overstuffed comedy is a satirical commentary (via mock history) on broadcast news’ modern preoccupation with sensationalism, ratings and corporate funding—topics already familiar to viewers tuned into shouty Aaron Sorkin drama The Newsroom—though you can barely see it for the gags. The movie tries to deal with racism in America as well, but that subplot, too, flopped after a promising start.
But perhaps the best part was the “battle” scene, which was clearly just an excuse for cameos (watch out for Marion Cotillard!), but good OTT fun nonetheless. And speaking of cameos, some of the main cast’s subtler comic talents (Applegate, Kirsten Wiig (as Chani) and Paul Rudd (as Brian Fantana)) barely got any screen time. For shame.
We love a slapstick stoner comedy as much as anybody, but this doesn’t make the cut. Well, at least we found out that there really is an upper limit to how much of Brick’s (Steve Carrell) bellowing one can enjoy.
Anchorman 2 is now showing islandwide. Also see alternative reviews of the movie here.
