The Man Killed Burgundy - The Films Of Will Ferrell & Adam McKay

Partial Education Presents

The Man Killed Burgundy - The Films of Will Ferrell & Adam McKay

Featuring Partially Educated Reviews of

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby

Step Brothers

The Other Guys

and Anchorman 2: The Legend Just Went And Died!

It's very rare that you find a truly great actor-director partnership that works and then spreads it's greatness across a number of films. 

Adam McKay and Will Ferrell stand as prove of that.

Now of course, this is one of those films where there seems little point reviewing it other than the whole achieving full education malarkey. Most of you will have seen Anchorman and thus know whether you love it or hate it (there really does seem to be zero middle ground). There is one point that I do want to make though, as to me, Anchorman is something that's a real rarity: a comedy that benefits from repeat viewings. Truth be told, the first time I watched Anchorman, I was underwhelmed. It wasn't that I hated it, more that I came to it after the reactionary "Best. Film. Ever." had perpetuated itself into sixth form lounges all over the country. Let's be clear. As good as it is, this is far from the best film ever. It wasn't that I didn't like it, instead more that I thought it was simply solid. It had moments that made me laugh and moments that didn't. Then time passed and I found myself quoting things that I hadn't previously laughed at and went back to watch it again, only to find that actually, I do love it. Anchorman is not intelligent (though satire is present, it's in it's most basic form), but where it succeeds is in knowing that and going for the dumb fun angle. Having now seen Anchorman more times than I care to count, the fresh laughs have gone, but I can't find a joke that hasn't at some point made me at least giggle school-girlishly. If you are one of the few people who hasn't seen Anchorman, don't start it with expectations as high as mine were (I call it Zoolander syndrome), or you may be disappointed. As far as I'm concerned though, Anchorman isn't the best film ever, but it is an exceptional comedy.

FIVE out of five

In the same way that Anchorman isn't the best comedy ever made, Talladega Nights isn't the worst comedy ever made. It isn't even the worst comedy here. It is still pretty poor though. It's biggest problem is Ferrell, playing the titular Nascar driver, taking on his father's mantra of "if you're not first, you're last". In a similar way to Ron Burgundy, Bobby is successful in what he does, but lacks any form of notable intelligence. He's also not the nicest of characters. Again, neither was Burgundy, but the biggest difference between the two is that Ferrell isn't remotely funny when playing Ricky Bobby, coming off as obnoxiously loud and irritating. His idea of comedy here degenerates into little more than nonsensical babbling and screaming. Picture this. 

The difference is that video runs just over 3 minutes and Talladega Nights runs over 2 hours. Not only does it not have anywhere near the amount of successful laughs as Anchorman, it's also confident that it does, making it painful to sit through at times. That's not to say the jokes are all terrible, because there are a few that work, but these are either surrounded by gags that die on their arse, or ignores the law of repetition in the same way that you'd expect of an attention-starved 8 year-old. The plot is identikit to Anchorman's which shouldn't matter because, let's face it, plot is fairly surplus to requirements. When you're not laughing though, you'll start looking for anything to enjoy and the story doesn't provide that. Adding the likes of John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen to the mix does nothing because Reilly demonstrates some fairly painful improvisational skills (an oddity when you consider that he's shown how good he is at this elsewhere). Cohen, meanwhile, goes for the French stereotype (his words sound funny) and also plays the character's homosexuality for laughs, despite the fact that the better (and actually funny) jokes lie in the other racer's ignorant reactions to this. I get that Cohen's job is to be funny, but this character was screaming out for someone to play it straight and they blew it. The few decent jokes save Talladega Nights a little bit, but the partnership of Ferrell and McKay wasn't too fresh the second time around. Don't worry though: there's still more 3 more team-ups to go.

TWO out of five

There'll always be a startling irony to me when it comes to films like Step Brothers, as they represent something of a celebration of the slacker mentality, despite the fact that they're coming from an industry in which, if you want to be successful, you can be anything but a slacker. The re-pairing of Ferrell and Reilly sets off alarm bells, but fortunately this is a much better effort. Both play middle-aged men who still live with their parents (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins). Wouldn't you know it? The two parents meet, fall in love and get married, meaning the consequent bringing together of houses brings about a sibling rivalry somewhere along the scale of two dogs fighting for a manky pig's ear. The film has a habit of flitting between Reilly and Ferrell being at odds and being best of mates. It works much better in the former, as their hilariously inept battle of wits (mum jokes aplenty) escalates into pure slapstick violence, something that becomes lacking when the two are allies. That's not to say that things are awful in these instances, as there are still some moments (the bunk beds and job interviews are a highlight), but the laughs do fall short on a number of occasions, often when it involves Adam Scott as Ferrell's brother and his, shall we say, promiscuously wandering wife (Kathryn Hahn). Admirably, Step Brothers is going for a really high hit rate when it comes to laughs and every line feels like it wants to inflict you with convulsions. Many of them do and it never starts to fail completely, but by the end of it, the well is dry and they're still throwing the bucket down there. It also really does not benefit from repeat viewings, so if you haven't seen it, I recommend it, but if you're considering a second view, maybe don't bother.

THREE out of five

Whenever Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson are on screen during The Other Guys, it stays funny. Anyone who's seen it can testify to the fact that that's not a complement. There's only one way to properly go about making a buddy cop film and that's by having enjoyable interplay between the two cops in question. Sure, a solid villain helps, but if it's enough fun being with the two leads, then some generic villains can be overcome. The Other Guys does not have an enjoyable partnership though. As the titular pairing, Mark Wahlberg and Ferrell play pen-pushing police officers, whose big calling comes when they stumble upon a dodgy businessman doing dodgy business (Steve Coogan getting zero chance to exercise his comic chops). Wahlberg and Ferrell have some chemistry, but their constant bickering isn't helped by the fact that neither are likeable, nor relatable. This is the only film reviewed here in which Ferrell did not participate in writing the script and the major difference this provides us with is a plot, or rather an attempt at one. Twists and turns are provided fairly regularly when it comes to the main case, but these aren't interesting and manage to feel unimportant. The end credit sequence would indicate that McKay and co-writer Chris Henchy think they're delivering some proper satirical bite, but they really aren't. Instead, we get a fairly basic "Corporate America is evil" spiel in which nothing new is being said. Jokes-wise, this is falling somewhere between Talladega Nights and Step Brothers. As I said, Jackson and Johnson provide some genuine laughs, but they're not in it all that much. The running joke between Wahlberg and Ferrell lies in Ferrell being the object of every woman's desires, but that's just an extended version of a joke that was done in the first two films here. Pitching the film as an action comedy doesn't help either, because the action is fairly thin and what's there is mostly pedestrian and always forgettable. In the end, The Other Guys becomes a few decent jokes surrounded by an average film. What helps is that most of those good jokes are in the first ten minutes, so save yourself from the other hour and a half.

TWO out of five

Later this year, Dumb And Dumber To will hit cinemas and I really don't want it to. It's not just because it's the sequel to one of my favourite comedies of all time (I'm immature, get over it). It's also because having now seen the trailer which contained less laughs than Schindler's List, I'm pretty sure it's going to be this year's Anchorman 2. Set a few years after the events of the first film, the sequel looks to tackle the emergence of 24 hour news and the numerous ways in which they manage to successfully fill all this (read: padding). There's a lot of recycled gags from the first film and the only way they see to justify these is by doing them in a bigger way. This just results in them being less funny. There are new jokes that appear, but most of these aren't very good and the jokes about Burgundy's reactions to his African American female boss feel dated and slightly pathetic. The saddest part though is that some previously great characters become anything but. With all four of the news team back, they've managed to become wholly irritating. The drought of laughs turns them all into wholly annoying screen presences and Ron feels less like Burgundy and more like Bobby. He's not the biggest let-down though, as that falls on Steve Carell as Brick Tamland. His first appearance may create a sigh of relief, as it is genuinely funny and harks back to what made him a real highlight of the first film. It's also the last reminder of how great he was. Instead of the loveably dim presence that he was before, here he becomes a cacophony of "LOUD NOISES!", but not good ones. His laugh will cut right through you and his tantrums appear to suggest that the character has suddenly become Rain Man. In the end though, the most damning thing with Anchorman 2 is the 2. Though this is obviously there to signify that this is the second film, it's also the amount of times that it actually caused me to laugh. Coincidentally, it's also an indication of how long it is, giving us a grand total of one laugh per hour. The Blu-Ray (and possibly DVD) release contains an extended cut that runs it to nearly two and a half hours. I haven't watched it because, frankly, a holiday in Guantanamo Bay sounds more humane.

ONE out of five

Next Time (2nd October)