So I went into Anchorman 2 with a great deal of trepidation. Would this be the sublimely funny film that Anchorman not only failed to be, but stubbornly refused to be, or would it be another missed, hack opportunity? It turns out I should not have worried, because it missed the boat again, despite having a wealth of great material from which to work.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues picks up where Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy left off. The 70's is behind Ron Burgundy (Will Farrell), God's gift to the evening news and well-coifed hair, and his lovely and sexy wife and co-anchor, Veronica Corningstone (played by Christina Applegate). They're the hottest evening anchor team until Ron is fired by their boss and is unceremoniously cast into the street after splitting with Veronica. He then has to scratch out a living drunkenly announcing SeaWorld attractions and sexually harassing the female trainers. One day, a producer shows up and offers him an opportunity of a lifetime, to be one of the anchors on an all-new, 24-hour news channel. Ron immediately takes the job and gets his old news team, Champ, Brian and Brick, back together to make the journey back East to New York. Despite a rough start, Ron unexpectedly becomes the hottest anchor at the channel until an accident leaves him blind, rendering him unable to read the news. Veronica nurses him back to health and he learns that family life is better than being an anchor. The end.
Whew! A lot occurs, but nothing really happens. Like its predecessor, Anchorman 2 is a huge missed opportunity to make a truly sublime comedic movie. When, exactly, did comedies become inane 3 Stooges slapstick ripoffs? When did Hollywood stop making intelligent comedies for adults and decided to go with simple dick and fart jokes that aren't funny to someone over 14? Anchorman's idiotic excess was most dramatically shown in a 2:03 pan flute sequence that only felt like it was 15 minutes long, There was so much to work with in the original: the late 70's, sexual attitudes in and out of work, the growing role of women in the workplace, the clothes, disco, hair; oh, I could go on and on. And to be fair, there are moments that are reminiscent of much better satirical movies like Network and Broadcast News where echoes a great comedy seep through. Anchorman 2, does try to be better than its precursor. It speaks to the retardation of real news and it's surrender to news entertainment, race relations, the changing role of the family unit; but it does them all clumsily. That said, there are some side-splittingly funny sequences that made me laugh out loud. My favorites are a dinner conversation and a slow-motion car wreck (you'll know it when you see it). Unfortunately, the car wreck is a metaphor for the whole film. This movie was so incredibly disappointing; but, when it's funny, boy is it ever funny.
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