“I have a strange relationship with Anchorman. I didn’t see the first one until it was out on DVD for a while and just starting to build up its reputation as a hilariously quotable comedy. I didn’t like it. I thought it was boring and most of the jokes were trying to hard. But then it got more popular and found its way even deeper into pop culture. I grew to love some of the classic dialog (I’ve been known to say “”I love lamp”” and “”I don’t know what we’re yelling about”” on a fairly regular basis) and quirky characters. The first show I directed (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), one of the guys had a tendancy to adlib despite my persistant pleas not to. Half of the time, he managed to sneak in an Anchorman line. Ending his song one night with “”You stay classy, Roman empire”” has lived on in infamy (and even made a modified appearance in his next show, The Full Monty with “”You stay classy, Buffalo””).
Now after all these years, we finally have a sequel. And just like with the original on its initial viewings, I didn’t like it. The humor was almost as forced as the plot. It started off well, with Burgandy and co taking jobs at a rip off CNN station. There was a rivalry with another anchorman. Fine. Then the plot didn’t really have anywhere to go, so it took some strange turns. It seemed like once they did that, they were at a point of no return and just kept digging deeper. And it was awkward. There was a scene that paralleled a favorite from the original that did brighten things up a bit, but otherwise I just couln’t get into it.
However, not all hope is lost. I have a feeling that this one is gonna age similarly to its predecessor, with pieces of it breaking out and being funny out of context. Maybe not to the extent of the original, but at least this Anchorman had a chance to open for an audience that could embrace it, as opposed to the faint reception the initial run of the first got.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – \m/ \m/