Why do we go to the movies?  Well for a number of reasons: we are tired of flipping through channels, we desire to enter a fictitious world, or because we just want to laugh until it hurts.  While the first two cases are common, the third is harder to come by.  It takes a confident director to adapt a bold script, executed by a cast that is willing to go all out to achieve a hysterical piece of work.  Thanks to director Adam McKay, (“Talladega   Nights,” “The Other Guys”) “Anchorman 2” manages to achieve these standards indisputably.  

 

After having waited almost ten years, fans and average moviegoers find themselves in the Big Apple where our heroes, Ron (Ferrell) and Veronica (Christina Applegate), are happily married and anchoring for a renowned news network.  Conflict soon arises when Ron is fired and his spouse is promoted.  Being Ron Burgundy, he takes it deeply personal and divorces his wife because she refuses to choose between him or the job.  Now many of you may be wondering if the future for the rest of the channel 4 news team (stated at the end of the original) were bona fide, and no, they sadly were not.  No, Bryan (Paul Rudd) is not the host of a Fox reality show, Brick (Steve Carell) is not a top advisor to George Bush, and Champ (David Koechner) was never accused by Terry Bradshaw of sexual harassment.  The men have split up and are doing their own thing, things I will not cover due to spoiling the movie.  Moreover, Ron gathers up his team after he is offered a job for a revolutionary news station: GNN (Global News Network).  As expected, further conflicts develop working at GNN, which only brings out the best in Ron (or at least the funniest).   

 

Compared to its predecessor, “Anchorman,” the film incorporates its silly, improv filled dialogue which made the original so fun and quotable.  Although, the sequel surpasses its precursor in almost 30 extra minutes of pure Ron.  The film goes off on tangents which may cause some head scratching, but I was able to look past those due to a cast that looked like they were enjoying themselves.  This is key to any movie with such an absurd script because without it, a movie like this could have been a joke.

 

At almost two hours, I feared that the jokes and quotes would become progressively bland, but I was surprisingly mistaken.  The jokes actually got funnier and more ludicrous as the film proceeded.  It was like the first half hour was a really effective crowd warmer that got you ready for the main act.

 

“Anchorman 2” also features many cameos from stars I will not mention.  They are memorable and will not only have fans laughing, but also cheering.  “Anchorman 2” is not for everyone.  Hardcore Burgundy fans will enjoy this parody, based off of real life reporter Harold Greene in the 1970’s, while others might find its humor annoying.  

 

“Anchorman 2” can be placed under the parody genre.  Why you ask?  Because the entire film caricatures the mindset of reporters.  Ron acts like he’s the CEO of Apple, when really he just reads the news.  This is an effective way to keep the audience amused.  While they are laughing over Ron’s cockiness, they will continue to laugh after they realize that it’s all over his job as an anchor.  Genious.  

A-

Directed by: Adam McKay

Screenplay by: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay

Cast: Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Kristen Wiig

Running Time: 119 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comic violence)