ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

year: 2013 rating: **1/2

In an extremely cautious time where Political Correctness dictates the media, from scolding a bearded Reality Show redneck to throwing Steve Martin under the Twitter bus, it’s nice to revisit an era when men were men and spoke bluntly with obnoxious confidence, all the while perched on top of the world… Well in this particular case the last part’s not entirely true.

1970's mustached anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is a maligned celebrity stuck in the wrong era, for it’s 1980 (despite references to mid-decade GHOSTBUSTERS and CUJO) and, having been fired as Network co-anchor, he doesn’t have a pot to relieve himself in… He does however have his friends, gathered up within the first ten minutes, and a new job for a "groundbreaking" cable station providing news 24 hours a day.

Much of the underlying theme pokes fun at FOX, centering on zealous patriotism Ron creates to boost ratings to win an in-house bet with the new handsome bully… Although the idea to cover celebrity gossip and police chases, and subtle glimpses into an O.J. Simpson trial future, makes the agenda-based target any other outlet besides the big three networks that dominated for many years… You’ll hear the line “This isn’t news,” referring to the modern brand of pop culture coverage, about a half dozen times.

The Shark Scene

Ron’s old school buddies, including Brick (Steve Carrel), Brian (Paul Rudd) and Champ (David Koechner) are all but peripheral, simply along for the ride… Brick has the most solo time, having met his awkard Girl Friday who also speaks from left field: alas their relationship is boring and pointless… Even love-interest Veronica Corningstone, being promoted (sans her husband) as sole network anchor, has taken backseat to Ron’s sudden popularity in the 24-hour phenomenon. Basically, Veronica represents the "good old fashion" news media, providing the moral compass.

What’s most important is that Burgundy’s an obnoxious stud once again, having hooked up with his sexy black boss… Here’s where the non-PC jokes fly and our oblivious “Legend” is truly enjoying himself... Then something extremely bizarre and completely unfunny happens... The revamped superstar literally goes blind, holes up in a lighthouse, gets back together with his family, and rescues (then nurses) a shark! At which point the movie gets so absurd one can only look back at the good times: that being either the original or the initial setup of this one.