Will Ferrell is no longer just that funny one from that film with Ben Stiller/Vince Vaughn/either of the Wilson brothers. Since Elf, he's been anointed as one of the new kings of comedy, the big hulking dunderhead part of the "Fratpack" - that group of near-middle-aged men who should know better but have provided the biggest guilty laughs of this year.
But Anchorman isn't quite Ferrell's finest creation, having the hit-and-miss quality of an extended Saturday Night Live sketch. His writing credit is indicative of the fact that most of what makes it to screen is clearly just Ferrell and co. making it up as they go along, plot be damned. That sometimes leads to baffling lunacy which borders on the embarrassing, but equally it offers episodes of such inspired idiocy that the only reasonable response is to laugh yourself stupid.
Ferrell's also wise enough to surround himself with a supremely gifted supporting cast. Applegate stirs many a giggle by playing it (relatively) straight in a confederacy of dunces and, mark our words, Steve Carell, who plays dim-witted weather man Brick Tamland, will be giving Ferrell trouble at the box office this time next year...
