If the first Anchorman tickled your funny bone, or if you really just need a couple hours of mindless fun to take the edge off, then give Anchorman 2 a shot.Can we talk about film critics for just a moment and why so many people probably hate us? Last week, at a promotional screening of the latest Hobbit movie, one of my peers in the press section stood facing the audience before the movie began and announced quite loudly that he had no interest whatsoever in seeing the film we were all about to watch. Over the course of the movie, he then proceeded to yawn at meticulously timed thirty minute intervals with a zeal that can only be described as heroic.
The same guy was back again this week for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Once more, he took to his feet before the gathered crowd, this time declaring that anyone in the country who actually wanted to see this movie instead of one of the smaller critically acclaimed releases coming out at the same time no doubt belonged to that ever growing horde of illiterate morons (his actual terminology was a bit stronger and unable to be printed here) who were not only the bane of good cinema, but probably the cause of every other problem society currently faces. After valiantly managing to avoid cracking a single smile throughout most of the film, he left about twenty minutes before the credits rolled. Now I haven't been able to learn just yet for whom this particular critic writes, but I'm sure that his published review of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues will be fair and evenhanded.
Sarcasm aside, and temporarily overlooking the obvious fact that my esteemed colleague seems to suffer from a severe personality disorder, I do actually sympathize a bit with his frustration. After all, part of a movie critic’s responsibility is to utilize his (supposed) knowledge of the history and process of cinema to inform others about a particular film's worth, not just as entertainment, but as a piece of art. And when a critic finds a movie that succeeds as art, that has some kind of cultural, societal, or political relevance, or that touches on some truth regarding the human condition, then that critic does his best to write about said movie in such a way as to inspire others to want to see it and hopefully find the same qualities in it for themselves.
That’s why, over the past couple of months, in between reviewing the latest blockbusters, I've managed to slip in some kind words for artfully constructed films like 12 Years A Slave and Inside Llewyn Davis. I think they're good art; I think good art is beneficial for individuals and society as a whole, and I think you personally might find it rewarding to seek them out. And yes, to be honest, it’s rather frustrating to know that those movies probably won’t ever receive one-third of the audience of something like G. I. Joe: Retaliation. So I implore you once again: please, please go see movies like 12 Years A Slave and Inside Llewyn Davis. But if you go see Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues first, that’s okay, because it’s freaking hilarious.
Now just let me qualify that statement with a few caveats: (1) This is a Judd Apatow production, so even though he doesn’t direct the film, flourishes of his trademark crude humor still pop up unnecessarily here and there. Don’t bring the kids. (2) I saw this with an enthusiastic crowd whose laughter was infectious. For all I know, if you wait until you’re sitting at home alone in front of a TV to watch this, a lot of the jokes may fall flat. I’d suggest you try to see this with friends – but not with their kids. (3) This is not cerebral humor. It's an Airplane style comedy movie in which they cram as many jokes as possible into every single frame. The gags come so rapid fire that, quite honestly, I can't remember a third of what I was even laughing at. Befitting Will Ferrell's roots at Saturday Night Live, Anchorman 2 basically functions as a two-hour long sketch comedy show, just with the same characters in each sketch. Don’t come looking for any deep story.
To be fair, though, there are scatterings of a plot amidst the pratfalls and punchlines. Anchorman 2 picks up right where the previous film left off, with Ron and his wife Veronica co-anchoring a news broadcast in New York City circa 1980. After the network decides to promote Veronica to the position of first female anchor on a national primetime newscast, Ron and his devoted news team are forced to disband and head back to San Diego. It isn’t long, though, before Ron is approached to participate in the startup of a never-before-heard-of venture: a 24 hour all-news network. Unconvinced the idea will work, but desperate to be back in an anchor's chair and to have a chance to reconnect with his estranged wife, Ron accepts the job and reassembles the team.
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Assigned the graveyard shift of 2:00-5:00 AM, Ron foolishly makes a wager with the network’s star anchor that his team can beat the 8:00 PM show’s ratings. Realizing that simply reading the standard news stories off the teleprompter will not win him the bet, Ron makes the decision to reformat his program and give the country the kind of news show he believes it really wants. What follows is a three-hour telecast in which Ron relentlessly promotes patriotism, Brian spotlights a number of stories featuring people's pets doing cute things, Champ shows sports clips of nothing but batters hitting home runs, and Brick stands outside in a strong breeze to report the weather. The show is an instant ratings bonanza.
From there, the movie jumps from scenario to scenario as Ron and his team create (and mercilessly lampoon) the format of modern newscasts as we’ve come to know them – shows full of talking heads yammering at one another, screens full of extraneous graphics (be sure to read the scrolling news flashes along the bottom of the screen), and important stories ignored for trivial distractions such as high speed car chases. Along the way, Ron tries to woo his wife away from her new lover, spends some Burgundy-style quality time with his son, and attempts an ill-fated interracial romance with a co-worker. Oh, and to give Steve Carell something to do, Brick gets a girlfriend.
There’s not too much more to say about Anchorman 2. If you liked what you saw in the first movie, then the sequel will be right up your alley. The slapstick is still broad (an RV crash featuring a deep fryer, a bowling bowl, an aquarium full of venomous scorpions, and a fruit bat had the audience near tears), the verbal humor is still based around the notion that grown intelligent men shouldn't be saying such things (political correctness does not exist in Ron Burgundy’s universe), and the set pieces still embrace absurdity with gusto, particularly in the climatic star-studded battle royale between various news organizations (a direct callback to the first film) which contains images so ridiculous, I'm still giggling over them as I write this. (Ah, Harrison Ford – you're a good sport.)
You know, despite the protestations of my fellow critic, it’s really okay to choose to see a stupid movie every now and then, even if there are more weighty films playing down the street. God knows sometimes we all need a good laugh. And I mean that literally. God, our creator, understands our occasional need for levity. As Pope Benedict XVI once told author Peter Seewald, “[God] has a great sense of humor. Sometimes he gives you something like a nudge and says, ‘Don't take yourself so seriously!’ Humor is in fact an essential element in the mirth of creation. We can see how, in many matters in our lives, God wants to prod us into taking things a bit more lightly; to see the funny side of it; to get down off our pedestal and not to forget our sense of fun.”
In fact, we can even see this notion reflected in our liturgy on the third Sunday of Advent when the Church gets playful and makes its priests dress in pink vestments. Yeah, I know, every year all the priests insist it’s rose, but it's pink and everybody knows it – especially the little girl at my parish’s five o'clock mass this last Sunday who shouted out, “It's pink!” when the priest tried to roll out the rose defense. Everybody laughed. Which is what a “house of joy,” as Pope Francis describes the Church, should do every now and then.
So by all means, if the first Anchorman tickled your funny bone, or if you really just need a couple hours of mindless fun to take the edge off, then give Anchorman 2 a shot. It’s not perfect, and it’s definitely not art, but the jokes hit their target more often than not, and that’s about all you can ask for a movie like this. Feel free to take a little time to let some joy in. The serious films (which I know you are all wise and intelligent enough to want to see eventually) will still be there when the time to laugh has passed and the time to weep has returned.
