Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Ron Burgundy is San Diego's top rated newsman in the male dominated broadcasting of the 1970's, but that's all about to change when a new female employee with ambition to burn arrives in his office.

Director:

Adam McKay

Writers:

Will Ferrell, Adam McKay

Stars:

Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd

1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Ferrell	...	Ron Burgundy
Christina Applegate	...	Veronica Corningstone
Paul Rudd	...	Brian Fantana
Steve Carell	...	Brick Tamland
David Koechner	...	Champ Kind
Fred Willard	...	Ed Harken
Chris Parnell	...	Garth Holliday
Kathryn Hahn	...	Helen
Fred Armisen	...	Tino
Seth Rogen	...	Eager Cameraman
Paul F. Tompkins	...	MC
Danny Trejo	...	Bartender
Scot Robinson	...	Waiter at Tino's
Ian Roberts	...	Stage Manager
Darcy Donavan	...	Hot Blonde

Storyline

Ron Burgundy is the top-rated anchorman in San Diego in the '70s. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica Corningstone, Ron is willing to play along at first-as long as Veronica stays in her place, covering cat fashion shows, cooking, and other "female" interests. But when Veronica refuses to settle for being eye candy and steps behind the news desk, it's more than a battle between two perfectly coiffed anchor-persons... it's war.

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Plot Keywords:

anchorman | 1970s | dog | cat | sexism | 

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Taglines:

If Ron Burgundy says it... it's the truth!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual humor, language and comic violence

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

9 July 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Action News

Filming Locations:

Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$573,025 (Australia) (22 October 2004)

Gross:

$1,492,415 (Australia) (5 November 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Apatow Productions, Herzog-Cowen Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 104 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Adam McKay was supposed to have a small cameo as a network producer named Aaron Zimmerman who acted much like Robert Evans but the idea was cut midway through production. The idea was reprised however in the feature introduction commentary to Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie.

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Goofs

Though set in the 1970s, during Ron Burgundy's encounter with the motorcyclist, a 1997-2002 Ford Econoline cutaway van passes by in the background.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bill Lawson: [narration] There was a time, a time before cable. When the local anchorman reigned supreme. When people believed everything they heard on TV. This was an age when only men were allowed to read the news. And in San Diego, one anchorman was more man then the rest. His name was Ron Burgundy. He was like a god walking amongst mere mortals. He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo. In other words, Ron Burgundy was the balls.

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Crazy Credits

At the opening, there is this proclaimation: "Based on actual events. Only the people, places and events have been changed."

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Connections

Referenced in The Big C: The Little c (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Help Yourself"
Written by Jack Fishman, Labatida Carlo Donida, Giulio Rapatti Mogol
Performed by Tom Jones
Chrysalis Copyrights Limited
Courtesy of Chrysalis Copyrights Ltd. part of the Chrysalis Group PLC

User Reviews

Amazing!

I just looked at the votes that people have already cast for this movie on imdb.com, and I am amazed at how many gave this movie a 10! There must be some hard-core Will Ferrell fans out there.

Let me state first that I'm not familiar with Will Ferrell, but I am assuming that he is one of a long line of Saturday Night Live comedians trying to make it in the movie world. I'm not sure if Ron Burgundy is a character from SNL that was brought to the big screen, but it certainly has that flavor to it.

Well, many of the reasons that I totally detested this movie fall in line with many of the reasons that I stopped watching SNL decades ago. The characters in "Anchorman" (and SNL) have been dumbed down to such a low level that they are annoying and straining for laughs constantly. The majority of the attempted humor in this movie was derived from characters acting just plain stupid in normal situations. That can be used effectively if it isn't overdone in a movie, but it just never ends in this movie.

A few positive things about this movie: There really wasn't much of the "potty" humor that seems to be required in just about every Hollywood comedy these days. Also, Christina Applegate does a decent job as a more talented reporter, and actually is much funnier than most of the characters when she plays it "straight" against the stupidity of the other characters. This is actually a totally opposite character from her days as Kelly Bundy on "Married ... with Children", she she does it quite well. Also, she seems to be becoming even more attractive as time passes by - she looks quite stunning in many of the shots. A final positive note: The theater was almost entirely empty on the opening weekend Friday night.

If I went to this movie by myself (which really wouldn't have happened), I would have walked out within the first 20 minutes. Since I was with a friend (her suggested movie, of course), I roughed it.

I will state that judging by the votes already on imdb, many people do seem to like this type of humor. So, if you think that the previews of this movie were hilarious, you will probably enjoy the movie - the previews capture the soul of the movie pretty well, without showing you all the things you would think are "funny stuff".

However, if you aren't sure whether you will like this movie based upon what you see in the previews, you should stay away - this movie gets very tiring and predictable fast.

My rating: 1 (... Only because '0' wasn't an option)