Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: July 9, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatEric Campos
Full force Will Ferrell at his best. And as an added bonus, we all get one of the funniest movies of the year...that is if you don't mind your humor on the rude and crude side. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
It strides above its crudeness like a colossus. It's smart people telling dumb jokes with a brilliant sense of irony. Anchorman gives you permission to laugh like an idiot. Read full review
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
You will laugh. Then you will laugh some more. Then you will laugh still again. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
To discover why movie fans are screaming for more Will Ferrell, and to savor the work of improv wizards like Carell, go see Anchorman. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Wonderfully silly all the time. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The voice-over narration by Bill Kurtis is a stroke of genius. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
In this context Ferrell seems more than just comic relief. He's a reminder that the greatest, deepest laughter doesn't come at the expense of some other guy, but from the glints of self-recognition we get when the screen becomes our mirror. Read full review
80
VarietyBrian Lowry
Generates enough inspired lunacy to sail past the arid stretches and provide a welcome splash of breezy, at times jaw-droppingly bizarre summer fun. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It takes a while to get used to the film's campy characters and its broad, "Ace Ventura" stylings. But Ferrell is the anti-Jim Carrey -- his deadpan comic mannerisms are infectiously funny, and his cluelessly narcissistic Burgundy is a joy to follow. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
That he can make his anchorman chauvinistic, deluded and ridiculous but still manage to give him some humanity is testimony to Ferrell's comic talents. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Most of the time, though, Anchorman works, and a lot of the time it's very funny. Read full review
75
PremiereAaron Hillis
Anchorman is the kind of wonderful, cotton-candy escapism that should leave you with the right kind of stomachache. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
There's no sense to the scene in which the boys get together for a close-harmony rendition of "Afternoon Delight" -- just pure pleasure. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's hard to say whether Anchorman is the funniest movie of the year - it has enough offbeat and gut-busting moments to make it worth consideration in that category. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
An engagingly knuckleheaded comic vehicle for former Saturday Night Live trouper Will Ferrell. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Burgundy and Carell's Brick Tamland, by himself, would be worth the price of admission. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Does make you laugh even if you hate yourself for doing so. A creation of former "Saturday Night Live" colleagues, the comedy plays like an extended skit with bits of improvisation and several slightly extended sequences. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
In McKay, Ferrell has found an unusually simpatico collaborator for the type of humor that's made him a comedy force: outsized, unexpectedly sweet, and unrelenting. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
At its best it plays like modern-day Marx Brothers in which every single thing that happens makes no sense and serves no purpose and nothing happens for any reason at all. It exists solely to get a laugh, not to make a point. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
What we get is more of the same from Ferrell – funny faces, goofy accents, pratfalls aplenty – and that ain't bad. It just could have been a lot better. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Sloppy, crude, pursuing the most far-flung tangents in hopes of a laugh, Anchorman still gave me more stupid giggles than I'd care to admit. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
Will Ferrell is a scream, no doubt about it. And Anchorman contains some of his best work. But, Knights of Columbus! Wouldn't it be great if TV-based comedians weren't afraid of making movies that were funnier than they are? Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The movie may lack a lot of things, but it doesn't lack comic timing--or, in its own way, a nose for the news. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
The film is wickedly funny and a first-rate showcase for Ferrell. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It has a pleasing, noodly elasticity about it -- the picture knows what its limits are and proceeds to boogie unself-consciously far outside them. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly Richards
If it were any more manic you’d have to put it on Ritalin. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
More amusing than annoying. It is not as maniacally uninhibited as "Old School" or as dementedly lovable as "Elf," but its cheerful dumbness is hard to resist. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The movie is funny when it's nasty, as when Ron and Veronica trade insults at the anchor desk. Most of the time, though, it's not nasty enough. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I can't help but feel that a funny movie was waiting to be unearthed amid all this self-congratulation and juvenile prankishness. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Often so silly, it's surreal. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The sweet spirit that made last year's "Elf" such a success has curdled considerably.
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Feels like an extended skit stretched and stretched, maybe not to the breaking point, but to the sagging point. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Park
As parody, it's toothless and often smug, but as random Ferrellspeak generator, it has its delights. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A lazy, self-satisfied piece of work -- a comedy made by people who think so highly of themselves, they assume they'll get a laugh just by showing up in front of the camera. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Ferrell, of course, has his moments. But he doesn't have an engaging "center" as a comedian. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Anchorman has one amusing character, a dumb weatherman played by Steve Carell, and a nicely observed set piece about what newscasters really say to one another when they're shuffling papers between segments. Otherwise it's a long string of heavy-footed sight and sound gags. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
Their collective timing is so off that the dead space around their endless bits is like that more commonly experienced during a job interview gone wrong. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Imagine a movie where every character is more self-centered than Ted Baxter in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" of old, add a caboodle of idiotic jokes, and you have some idea of this ugly, unfunny farce. Read full review
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