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From Satire to Surreal
Anchorman2: The Legend Continues (Rated PG-13)
by HEATHER GRIFFITHS
Apparently I have one too many X chromosomes to enjoy Anchorman 2: The
Legend Continues (119 minutes). In fact, for most of the film I stared bemusedly at
the screen while everyone else in the theater laughed loudly and often. It was only in
the last 20 minutes or so, when the film lost all pretenses at satire and just became
weird that my rating edged up from two stars to three. I have a profound appreciation
for weird.
The first Anchorman was loosely structured with a real improvisational feel. After
its release there was enough left over footage to release Wake
Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie straight to DVD back
in 2004. I still haven't seen it yet, but I am sure it's exactly
as funny as it sounds, and is probably funnier than this was.
The official sequel took everything that made the first movie
sort of work and amped it up, sometimes effectively and
sometimes not so much.
It is several years after the first film. Ron Burgundy (Will
Ferrell) and Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) are
married co-anchors at a New York City network. They have
one child, 6-year-old Walter (Judah Nelson). A higher-up
at the network, Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford) approaches
the couple, promoting Veronica and firing Ron. Predictably
(and most of the film is nothing if not predictable) Ron
storms out on the family and retreats back to San Diego. The next time we see Ron
he is emceeing a SeaWorld show, and he must have caught a screening of Blackfish
because he is also suicidal.
Just when things are at their worst, he is recruited by GNN, the world's first 24
hour news channel. The recruiter, Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker), gives Ron free
rein to select his news team, so Ron goes on a mission from God to get the band
back together. First he finds Champ Kind (David Koechner), the sports guy. He has
opened up a fried-chicken restaurant in which he serves the "chicken of the cave."
Brian Fantana, though now a world famous cat photographer, is still relatively easy
to recruit. This bit reminds of a little sketch called "Operation Kitten Calendar" from
Acceptable TV. Trust me; it's worth looking up on YouTube.
The last piece of the puzzle is Brick Tamland (Steve Carell). The man children end up
at his funeral, where it turns out that Brick is giving the eulogy and is therefore not dead,
though it takes longer than it should to get through that segment. With the team back
together they head to New York. Once there, they find that they have the graveyard shift
while popular haircut Jack Lime (James Marsden) has the prime time slot.
Ron starts, and then wins, a ratings war with Jack Lime
by telling people what they want to hear instead of what they
need to hear. Flush with victory, he attempts to win Veronica
back only to find that she has moved on with a new beau,
Gary (Greg Kinnear). Lucky for Ron there's a new Bond
Babe waiting in the wings. GNN manager Linda Jackson
(Meagan Good) sexually harasses Ron into a relationship and
several awkward dinner dates. But all is not bleak in movie
romance land, Brick catches the eye of his comic equal,
Chani (Kristen Wiig) and a series of bizarre encounters fuel
their love.
The movie finally gets funny after Ron (spoiler alert)
goes blind and raises an orphan shark called Doby before
regaining his sight and returning to New York to fight in
an old-fashioned news team rumble, including Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughn), a
werewolf and approximately 10 big name actor cameos.
Overall, I thought the first three-fourths dragged because the
writers and director worked too hard to keep everything together.
The cast was, as it always is, at its best when they're given pixie sticks
and mountain dew and told to run wild. There's even an after credits
scene, if you feel like sticking
HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing
around.
Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com.
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