Day 228 - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

I have never watched Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Admittedly, this experience doesn’t fit the normal criteria I have established for myself during the course of my “I have never...” journey. After all, I know I can’t necessarily learn anything from the experience, it isn’t something that will likely affect my life to any great degree, and it doesn’t add much to the telling of my story. That stated, the first Anchorman film has been a fixture in my life since the movie was first released in 2004. So much so that my one and half year old, Baxter, was named after Ron Burgundy’s furry sidekick that played a major role in the first film. As a result, I decided to forego my otherwise immovable “I have never...” criteria for one day this year. Sure, that means I'm bending my "I have never..." rules for this event; however, I have waited years for this movie to be released, and on the day after Christmas spending a relaxing evening with some great company was exactly what I needed.

Now, as to not ruin anything for anyone that has yet to see the film, I won’t delve into much detail about Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Instead, I will simply say that my hopes for the movie, and all the ridiculousness I knew it would bring, were not in vain. After meeting my Brother Abe, my Sister In-law Missy, and my friends, Travis and Krista, at the theater I excitedly settled into my chair before the film began. As the lights dropped and the previews played out, I braced myself for the opening of the scene. Then, the familiar voice of the greatest man to ever grace a fake local news broadcast began to bellow over the speakers. In typical fashion, Burgundy cut loose on a series of ridiculous vocal exercises before a pending broadcast, which immediately sent the crowd into roaring laughter. Within the first few minutes of the movie, I was doing my best to catch my breath between punch lines. With the movie off to a good start, I leaned in and waited for the plot to begin to take shape.

With the story taking form, we watched as Ron faced an unexpected career disaster pulled from the rubble by an opportunity to spearhead the first 24 hour new network in history. The storyline provided ample opportunity for Ron and his familiar news team to douse the airwaves with their unique brand of machismo and over-confidence, which led to plenty of laugh inducing, outlandish scenarios as the team rose to cable news fame. Although there were plenty of moments where the story seemed to lead a little bit astray, the overwhelming majority of the movie fit the profile of the Channel 4 news team’s glory days in San Diego. As a result, the movie ended up being rolling tides of laughter filled in with gaps of plot development necessary to keep the story moving.

It begins

By the time the film had begun reach a point of resolution, we had witnessed Ron Burgundy get fired; rescue his news team from selling deep fried bats, working as kitten photographers, and dying; ascend to the throne of cable news; lose his sight in a horrific jazz flute ice skating accident; nurse a baby shark to adulthood; take to the field of battle against news teams from around the world; and find his purpose as a news anchor and father. In other words, we witnessed two hours of the best kind of unadulterated ridiculousness, which made every penny of my $10 ticket price absolutely worth it.

Although I can’t say Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues reaches the legendary status among comedy films that the first Anchorman film was able to achieve, by the time the movie was finished I easily concluded my decision to bend my “I have never...” rules for a night was a good one. The movie gave me a great chance to hang out with some great people and share some laughs. Additionally, having a night out at the theater a day after Christmas was a great way to relax and begin the transition out of the holiday craziness that usually proceeds this time of year. In my opinion, that beats sitting at home with little to do but survive the cold any day of the week; especially when it is Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 news team that are breaking up the routine. Here’s to new experiences... and to staying classy, of course.