Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Adam McKay
Produced by	Judd Apatow
Written by	Will Ferrell Adam McKay
Narrated by	Bill Kurtis
Starring	Will Ferrell Christina Applegate Paul Rudd David Koechner Steve Carell Fred Willard
Music by	Alex Wurman
Cinematography	Thomas E. Ackerman
Editing by	Brent White
Distributed by	DreamWorks
Release date(s)	July 9, 2004
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$90,336,354

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format. It portrays a San Diego TV station where Ferrell's title character clashes with his new female counterpart (Christina Applegate). This film is number 100 on Bravo's 100 funniest movies, and 113 on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.

The film made $28.4 million in its opening weekend, and $89.3 million worldwide in its total theatrical run. A companion film assembled from outtakes and abandoned subplots, titled Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, was released straight-to-DVD in late 2004. In May 2008, it was confirmed that a sequel to Anchorman was in the planning stages,^[1] but in April 2010, it was announced that the sequel had been scrapped.^[2]

Plot

In 1975 San Diego, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is the famous and successful anchorman for KVWN-TV Channel 4 Evening News. He works alongside his friends on the news team: fashion-oriented lead field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sportscaster Champion "Champ" Kind (David Koechner), and mentally retarded chief meteorologist Brick Tamland (Steve Carell). The team is notified by their boss, Ed Harken (Fred Willard), that their station has maintained its long-held status as the highest-rated news program in San Diego, leading them to throw a wild party. While getting drunk, Ron sees an attractive blond woman and immediately tries to hit on her. After an awkward, failed pick-up attempt, the woman leaves.

The next day, Ed informs the team that he has been forced by the network to hire Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), a female news reporter from Asheville, North Carolina – and the same woman Ron had tried to pick up the night before. The news team attempts to seduce Veronica using various inept, arrogant and sexist methods, all of which backfire. Ron ends up asking her out under the guise of helping out a new co-worker, which she accepts. During their date, Ron woos Veronica by playing jazz flute (actually played by Los Angeles based musician, Katisse Buckingham) in his friend Tino's (Fred Armisen) club. Veronica goes against her policy of not dating co-workers and sleeps with Ron. The next day, despite agreeing with Veronica to keep the relationship discreet, Ron tells the entire news room that he and Veronica are in a sexual relationship (and later announces it on the air).

The next day when Ron is on his way to the station, he throws a burrito out his car window, accidentally hitting a motorcyclist (Jack Black) in the head, causing him to crash. In a fit of rage, the biker retaliates by punting Ron's dog, Baxter, off a bridge. A distressed and incoherent Ron calls Brian from a pay phone and tells him what happened. Since Ron is now late, Brian frantically tells him to come to the station because Veronica is about to take his place. Despite Ron's efforts to arrive early, Veronica goes on air. After Ron arrives, he has an argument with Veronica about the situation and they break up. The next day, Veronica is made co-anchor, much to the entire news team's disgust. The co-anchors soon become fierce rivals and argue with each other both on and off the air.

One day while feeling down on themselves, the News team decides to buy new suits. However on the way to the suit shop Brick, who was leading the way, gets them lost ending up in a shady part of town. They are then confronted by Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughan) and the evening news team. Tired of their rudeness and petty anger, Ron challenges them to a fight. All armed with crude weapons the two teams are about to fight when they are joined by Channel 2 news team with lead anchor Frank Vitchard (Luke Wilson), the public news team and their lead anchor (Tim Robbins), and the Spanish language news with lead anchor Arturo Mendez (Ben Stiller). A full on melee ensues between the five teams until they all flee when police sirens are heard.

While in a restaurant celebrating Veronica's success, one of Veronica's co-workers tells her that Ron will read anything that is written on the teleprompter. Later, Veronica sneaks into the station and changes the words in Ron's teleprompter. The next day, instead of Ron saying his signature "You stay classy, San Diego!" closure, Ron ends the broadcast with, "Go fuck yourself, San Diego!" Everyone in the studio, except Ron, is speechless. An angry mob gathers outside the studio and Ed must fire Ron. Veronica sees that she has gone too far and attempts to apologize, but Ron angrily dismisses her while being led through the mob by security, yelling at her that she had "reduced him to rubble".

Three months later Ron is unemployed, friendless, hated by the city and is a slovenly drunk. In this time Veronica has become very famous, but is hated by her male coworkers for sabotaging Ron; Ed told Champ, Brick, and Brian not to talk to Ron or he will fire them if they do. When it is announced that Ling-Wong the panda is about to give birth, all the San Diego news teams head to the zoo to cover the story. In an attempt to sabotage her, the public news anchor pushes Veronica into a Kodiak bear enclosure. When Ed cannot find Veronica, he calls the bar where Ron spends most of his time and reluctantly asks him to return. Ron then summons the rest of his team by blowing the "News Horn", despite the fact that they were all standing a foot away playing pool. Baxter, who has miraculously survived, hears this call and follows the voice to find Ron. Once at the zoo, Ron jumps into the bear pen to save Veronica, with everyone else at the zoo watching. The Channel 4 news team then jumps in to help Ron. Just as the leader of the bears is about to rip Ron and Veronica apart, Baxter shows up and convinces the bear to let them live by mentioning that he is a friend of the bear's cousin, whom he met in the wild.

After Ron and Veronica reconcile, it is shown that in years to come, Brian becomes the host of a Fox reality show named Intercourse Island, Brick is George W. Bush's top political adviser, Champ is a commentator for the NFL before he was fired for sexually harassing Terry Bradshaw, and Ron and Veronica are co-anchors for the CNN-esque World News Center, taking over after the narrator (real news anchor Bill Kurtis) retires.

Cast

• Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy. A five-time (local) Emmy Award-winning journalist, he is the main anchorman for the KVWN Channel 4 News Team from 1964 to 1977. Always confident and well-dressed, he is ignorant, egotistical, misogynistic, and narcissistic, stating that he believes "diversity" to be some type of "old, old wooden ship used in the Civil War era."
• Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone. From Asheville, North Carolina. She is ambitious to become a network anchor and wants to be taken seriously in the male-dominated newsroom. Amy Poehler (of Saturday Night Live fame) was originally cast as Veronica.^{[citation needed]}
• Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana. He is the stylish and over-sexed field reporter for KVWN news. He is arrogant, narcissistic and overestimates his personal qualities. He leaves the news station to host the Fox Network’s show, "Intercourse Island".
• David Koechner as Champion "Champ" Kind. The KVWN sportscaster, he seems to have hidden feelings for Ron Burgundy. He is the most chauvinistic member of the news team. John C. Reilly was originally slated to play Champ but had to drop out due to work on The Aviator.^{[citation needed]} He leaves the news station to become an NFL commentator, but is fired for accusations of sexual harassment made by Terry Bradshaw.
• Steve Carell as Brick Tamland. The weatherman for the KVWN news team, he has a habit of providing unrequested or irrelevant information. Tamland is good hearted and loyal but not very bright. Brick is an innocent who is led astray by the rest of the group. Co-star Paul Rudd (Brian Fantana) commented in rehearsals that the thought that Brick may be mentally retarded would "never faze them", and that the other members of the news team would never berate or become annoyed with Brick because of his stupidity, merely correcting him if he makes a mistake.^{[citation needed]} He goes on to become one of the top political advisors to the Bush White House.
• Fred Willard as Ed Harken: The news director of KVWN.
• Chris Parnell as Garth Holladay: Ed's assistant at KVWN. Ron Burgundy was his hero, before he used foul language during a news broadcast. He is frequently ignored by the news team, even though his main job at the station appears to be keeping them out of trouble.
• Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth (uncredited): The lead anchor of the competing KQHS Channel 9 Evening News Team and Burgundy's main rival.
• Luke Wilson as Frank Vitchard: A competing news anchor whose station, Channel 2, is third in the ratings.
• Peanut as Baxter, Ron's beloved dog. Burgundy's relationship with Baxter is almost one of equality. He has the uncanny ability to communicate with his master in English.

Cameos

• Ben Stiller as Arturo Mendez (Spanish Language News anchor).
• Tim Robbins as the Public News anchor (uncredited).
• Danny Trejo as a bartender.
• Jack Black as a motorcyclist
• Seth Rogen as one of Harken's cameramen.
• Jerry Stiller can be seen very briefly sitting alone at the far end of the bar at the beginning of the "Rocky's Bar Grill & Fine Dining" scene (uncredited).^{[citation needed]}
• Judd Apatow, as a news station employee
• Paul F. Tompkins as a cat show competition host
• Jay Johnston as part of the Eyewitness News Team
• Robin Antin is seen briefly in the background in one of Ben Stiller's scenes.^{[citation needed]}
• Fred Armisen as Tino, the owner of the restaurant that Ron frequents.
• Adam McKay as a janitor
• Jimmy Bennett appears as Tommy (uncredited).

Narration

The opening and closing scenes are narrated by veteran Chicago CBS (WBBM-TV) news anchor Bill Kurtis. Bill Kurtis, who currently hosts A&E's American Justice and Cold Case Files, is the winner of twenty Emmys.

Soundtrack

1. Ron Burgundy - "Legendary Anchor Ron Burgundy Welcomes You To His Album: A Life, A Song"
2. Blues Image - "Ride Captain Ride"
3. Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine (Go Away Today)"
4. Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose - "Treat Her Like A Lady"
5. Gene Chandler - "Groovy Situation"
6. Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"
7. Friends Of Distinction - "Grazing In The Grass"
8. Neil Diamond - "Cherry, Cherry"
9. Isley Brothers - "That Lady"
10. Henry Gross - "Shannon"
11. Bill Withers - "Use Me"
12. Tom Jones - "Help Yourself"
13. Hall & Oates "She's Gone"
14. Will Ferrell & The Channel 4 News Team - "Afternoon Delight"
15. Ron Burgundy - "Ron Burgundy's Sign Off"

Production

Although Anchorman is set in San Diego, the real San Diego appears only in brief aerial shots – modern shots that include many downtown buildings not yet built in the 1970s. According to the official production notes and "making of" documentary (both included on the DVD), Anchorman was actually filmed in Los Angeles, Glendale, and Long Beach on sets which were dressed to look like San Diego in the 1970s. Notably, Los Angeles, Glendale, and Long Beach are in the studio zone, while San Diego is not.

Reception

Critical response

Anchorman was released on July 9, 2004 in 3,091 theaters and grossed US$ $28.4 million in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $85.3 million in North America and $5.3 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $89.3 million, well above its $26 million budget.^[3]

The film was generally well-received by critics with a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 63 metascore at Metacritic. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "Most of the time... Anchorman works, and a lot of the time it's very funny".^[4] Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers also gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "If you sense the presence of recycled jokes from Animal House onward, you'd be right. But you'd be wrong to discount the comic rapport Ferrell has with his cohorts, notably the priceless Fred Willard as the harried station manager".^[5] In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "C+" rating and wrote, "Yet for a comedy set during the formative era of happy-talk news, Anchorman doesn't do enough to tweak the on-camera phoniness of dum-dum local journalism".^[6] USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and Claudia Puig wrote, "That he can make his anchorman chauvinistic, deluded and ridiculous but still manage to give him some humanity is testimony to Ferrell's comic talents".^[7] In her review for the Los Angeles Times, Manohla Dargis wrote, "Tightly directed by newcomer Adam McKay, a former head writer on Saturday Night Live who cooked up the screenplay with Ferrell, Anchorman never reaches the sublime heights of that modern comedy classic There's Something About Mary. Big deal — it's a hoot nonetheless and the scaled-down aspirations seem smart".^[8]

Empire magazine ranked Ron Burgundy #26 in their "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll.^[9] Empire also ranked Anchorman at number 113 in their poll of the 500 Greatest Films Ever. Entertainment Weekly ranked Burgundy #40 in their "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years" poll and Ferrell said, "He is my favorite character I've played, if I have to choose one ... Looking back, that makes it the most satisfying thing I've ever done".^[10]

Unrated version

Ron's SportsCenter audition.

In the unrated version of Anchorman, there are four minutes worth of additional scenes that were not shown in the theaters to secure the PG-13 rating instead of an R rating. Some of these found their way into Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie. They are:

• A scene where Ron imagines that he and Veronica are married and shows them making out in front of their children, with her telling him that she has prepared dinner in the nude.
• A scene showing Ron, on the air talking about how he is proud of his mane of pubic hair.
• An alternate conversation after the party, where Champ talks about pooping out a live squirrel. Brick then tells Champ apologetically that he ate his chocolate squirrel. Originally, Champ said he woke up in a Japanese family's rec room and they wouldn't stop screaming, and Brick added that he ate a big red candle.
• An alternate take of the scene where Ron walks around the office with his massive erection.
• The extended version of Ron being dragged out of the station into an angry mob after saying "Go fuck yourself, San Diego," on the news. He says "fuck" many more times in the extended version.
• Ron goes to Tino's (the restaurant where Ron took Veronica out and played jazz flute) after the incident and Tino forces him to eat cat poop before he brings him a steak. Weeping, Ron eats some of the poop, but makes such a scene that he disturbs other restaurant patrons.

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

The film, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, was released straight to DVD in 2004, which includes alternate scenes containing much of the original plot.^[11]

Sequel

In May 2008, McKay said that he and Will Ferrell have talked about wanting to do an Anchorman sequel.^[1] Steve Carell told MTV he would reprise his role as Brick Tamland if the opportunity arose.^[12] In an interview with ITV1's London Tonight^{[citation needed]} in August 2008, Ferrell confirmed plans for a sequel but indicated it could take some time to happen.

On March 23, 2010, Ferrell said it was unlikely that a sequel would be made, telling Zoo Magazine^{[citation needed]} that getting the cast together would be too difficult. The following month, McKay said the studio had turned down a proposal for a sequel, even after McKay had told them Ferrell, Carell and Rudd would take pay cuts.^[13]

On September 8, 2010, director Adam McKay revealed to Collider.com that massive outcry from fans has convinced Paramount to reconsider making the sequel. It is not known when Paramount will make their final decision on whether or not to make the sequel.

On May 3, 2011, Will Ferrell publicly stated that Paramount, which owns the rights to Anchorman, had nixed the idea of a sequel, stating "We've run the numbers and it's not a good fit."^[14]

See also

• Anchorman: Music from the Motion Picture
• Frat Pack

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Is Anchorman 2 Coming?". Collider. May 4, 2008. http://www.collider.com/entertainment/news/article.asp/aid/7788/tcid/1. Retrieved 2010-05-02. 
2. ^ Davis, Erik (April 29, 2010). "Paramount Cancels 'Anchorman 2'". Cinematical. http://www.cinematical.com/2010/04/29/paramount-cancels-anchorman-2/?icid=main. Retrieved 2010-05-02. 
3. ^ "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=anchorman.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-06. 
4. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 9, 2004). "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040709/REVIEWS/407090301/1023. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
5. ^ Travers, Peter (July 14, 2004). "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/6298127/review/6298160/anchorman_the_legend_of_ron_burgundy. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
6. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (July 7, 2004). "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,661411,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
7. ^ Puig, Claudia (July 8, 2004). "Tune in to Anchorman". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2004-07-08-anchorman_x.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
8. ^ Dargis, Manohla (July 9, 2004). "Anchorman". Los Angeles Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-dargis9jul09,2,588852.story. Retrieved 2010-05-04. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". Empire. http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=26. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
10. ^ Ferrell, Will (June 4/11, 2010). "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years". Entertainment Weekly: pp. 64. 
11. ^ "Find The Film movie trivia". http://www.findthefilm.com/movies/anchorman_the_legend_of_ron_burgundy.php. Retrieved June 21, 2009. 
12. ^ Carroll, Larry (June 4, 2008). "Steve Carell Says He's "Absolutely" Down For Anchorman Sequel". MTV Movies Blog. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/06/04/steve-carell-says-hes-abolutely-down-for-anchorman-sequel/. Retrieved 2008-06-04. 
13. ^ Fleming, Mike. "No Go On Paramount's 'Anchorman 2'?", Deadline.com, April 29, 2010
14. ^ huffingtonpost.com

External links

• Official website
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy at the Internet Movie Database
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy at AllRovi
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy at Box Office Mojo
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy at Rotten Tomatoes
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy at Metacritic