My favorite movie (one of)

One of my favorite movies is Anchorman staring Will Ferrell.  I understand that comedy isn’t considered serious film (there is no Oscar for comedy after all); however, I believe that one of film’s greatest goals is, simply, to entertain.  Anchorman fulfills this goal masterfully.  Will Ferrell of SNL fame puts on a terrific performance (easily one of his best in my opinion) as sexist anchorman Ron Burgundy.  Steve Carell plays Brick the station’s mentally retarded weatherman.  Carell’s performance rivaled his performance in The 40 Year Old Virgin which was released one year after Anchorman.  However, it was the combined work of every actor in the film that made this movie truly a work of comedy that stands out among many films staring Ferrell. 

The movie involves bringing a woman into the anchor position at a news station in the 1970’s.  Ferrell and his fellow male news ‘stars’ give her a difficult time, but Veronica Corningstone (played by Christina Applegate from Married With Children fame) perseveres and finally pushes Ferrell out of the head anchor position and becomes co-anchor.  Ferrell and his team face off with a rival news team in an alley, and after the police arrive, they retire to the news studio where Ferrell must face Applegate (who he was previously dating).  The confrontation results in the relationship being terminated, and during ensuing broadcasts the co-anchors quarrel.  When Applegate discovers that Ferrell always reads what is on the teleprompter, she changes his sign-off from “stay classy San Diego” to “go fuck yourself San Diego”.  This leads to his termination from the station.  Ferrell then faces disgrace and failure in his own eyes and must face an angry public. 

Eventually, Ferrell restores his former position by saving Applegate from a grizzly bear.  Actually, Ferrell gets his butt kicked by the bear, and it’s his dog, Baxter (who was lost when a biker played by Jack Black kicks him off a bridge) who convinces the bear to leave them alone. 

This movie is incredibly humorous.  During the fight scene, for example, all of the news team members produce weapons.  When Brick (Carell) pulls out a hand grenade, Ferrell asks, “Brick, where’d you get a hand grenade?” to which Carell’s character replies “I don’t know”.  Ferrell and Carell formed a comedic duo in this movie that had great chemistry on screen.