ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (7 out of 10) Co-written and directed by Adam McKay; starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner and Christina Applegate; rated PG-13 (crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comic violence); in general release; running time: 119 minutes.
By Jeff Michael Vice
If you didn’t know any better, you’d almost swear that they were simply making up Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues as they go.
There’s a definite, stream-of-consciousness feel to the comedy, a sequel to the unexpected, 2004 cult-hit Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. There are almost as many laughs in this second installment, but there’s also a somewhat troublingly loose approach to the story, which is fractured and episodic. It’s not enough to completely ruin the movie, but the filmmakers and cast hit several dead ends that take some real comedic efforts to overcome.
And, as with everything associated with comic star Will Ferrell – who co-scripted and stars in the film – your enjoyment of the movie will depend on your tolerance for his wildly over-the-top performing and his very peculiar brand of comedy. The Legend Continues is every bit as tasteless as its predecessor was, and is as lowbrow and dim-witted it is insightful and smart. Maybe even more so in the former department, to be honest, so be warned … or be excited by that prospect.
While the first movie set was in ‘70s-era San Diego, this follow-up moves things to the early ‘80s Big Apple. Now-legendary newsman Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) and his wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), are now co-anchoring news broadcast in New York City when they’re both faced with a career-defining moment. The station’s veteran anchor, Mack Harken (Harrison Ford), is stepping down and has picked his replacement: Veronica.
However, at Mack’s behest, the continually bungling Ron is fired. What’s worse, given the choice between their marriage and career advancement, Veronica chooses the latter, leaving Ron without a job or a home. But luckily he’s given second chance only months later, by Global News Network, a fledgling, 24-hour-news network.
That’s all well and good, but Ron still has to reunite his beloved “News Team” and bring them aboard. As it turns out, sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner) now owns his own chain of chicken restaurants, investigative reporter Brian Fontana (Paul Rudd) now has successful career as pet photographer and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) is missing and presumed dead.
If that wasn’t enough to deal with, Ron has also developed a rivalry with another GNN anchor, the pompous Jack Lime (James Marsden). And he has to fend off the advances of his liberated and sexually forward new boss, Linda Jackson (Meagan Good), as well as try to win back the affections of Veronica and their young son, Walter (hilarious newcomer Judah Nelson).
With the original cast returning (including veteran newsman Bill Kurtis, who narrates), co-screenwriter/director Adam McKay has a huge task trying to give them and the newcomers – including a huge set of mostly uncredited cameos (from the likes of Jim Carrey, Will Smith, Kanye West, Tina Fey and others) – all the time they deserve. As a result, a few comic opportunities are lost (Fred Willard and Rudd, in particular, are badly neglected here).
And yes, McKay, Ferrell and company are simply repeating a lot of the same jokes from the first film. But the cast makes it work for the most part, particularly the scene-stealing Carell, who gets some of the biggest laughs in sequences that pair him with Kristen Wiig. (She plays an equally, “intellectually challenged” woman he is trying to romance.)
Along with spoofing the period trappings, the filmmakers do score a few points by skewering “info-tainment” and agenda-driven news reporting. It’s not only CNN that gets roasted here; it’s the likes of Fox News Channel, Entertainment Tonight, MTV and international newsgathering agencies as well.
Jeff Michael Vice, aka Jerk-bot, can be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast (www.thegeekshowpodcast.com), as well as be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff).