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# Will Ferrell nails the story in ‘Anchorman’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/will-ferrell-nails-the-story-in-anchorman/
- Published: 2004-07-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:43:01.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

It’s the 1970s, and mustachioed Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is the top-rated anchorman in San Diego, and the king of the all-male empire of local TV news. But the women’s lib movement arrives in the newsroom, and Burgundy’s world is turned upside down by sexy fireball Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) who steals Ron’s heart, then his job. Ferrell, who co-wrote the screenplay with former SNL head writer Adam McKay (making his directorial debut), is fast becoming the most bankable comedic actor in film, and this effort certainly won’t slow him down. While “Old School” is the funnier movie — and Ferrell owned that one — Burgundy is Ferrell’s most sidesplitting character to date. With his resonant voice and ease with a teleprompter, Ron exudes confidence and smarts, but behind the façade that’s made him a star is an insecure simpleton who talks to his dog. Applegate is the first of Ferrell’s leading ladies not to be bulldozed by the force of his personality. All those years trading barbs with the dysfunctional family on “Married With Children” prepped her for this, and she gives as good as she gets.

Burgundy’s sexist minions on the news team — man on the scene Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sports anchor Champ Kind (David Koechner) and the black hole-dense weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) — all contribute plenty of laughs, with Carell emerging as the standout. Some may have had enough of the whole ’70s retro-thing, but I don’t know if that era’s remarkably ridiculous style will ever cease to be a source of great amusement. Fred Willard is on board (always a plus) and cameos abound, with Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Tim Robbins central to the film’s most hilarious set piece — a “West Side Story”- esque brawl between rival news teams. Jack Black kills in a brief appearance as a pissed-off biker, and Vince Vaughn sizzles as Burgundy’s arch nemesis, Wes Mantooth. And if you think all the names are a hoot, wait ‘til you see the movie. (Rated PG-13 for sexual humor, language and comic violence. Running time: 91 minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 9, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)