'The Godfather of comedies' now streaming for free will cure Bank Holiday blues
If you're feeling vaguely depressed that the long Bank Holiday weekend is already over, an iconic comedy now streaming for free could cheer you up.
Recently added on ITVX is a hugely popular funny movie from 2004, starring a bevy of humorous US A-listers including Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Vince Vaughn, Fred Armisen, Ben Stiller, Chris Parnell and Seth Rogen.
It's been praised as an 'instant classic with a perfect cast' and the 'funniest movie ever made' by fans in the over twenty years since it was first released.
Steve Carell, Christina Applegate and David Koechner complete the main cast in yes, you guessed it, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Directed by Adam McKay, who also wrote it with Ferrell, and the first film in a franchise – sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues came out in 2013 – Anchorman pokes fun at 1970s broadcast culture.
Set at a fictional San Diego TV station, Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) is the star until new hire Veronica Corningstone (Applegate) achieves higher ratings while filling in for him.
While it achieved only lukewarm reviews from critics upon release, in grossed $90.6million (£68.2m) on a budget of $26m (£19.6m).
In the following years, Anchorman has achieved cult status with fans and is considered an eminently quotable movie – including by famous news presenters Andrew Marr and Dermot Murnaghan, who both chose to finish their final broadcasts at their long-term employers, the BBC and Sky News respectively, with reference to Burgundy's line 'Stay Classy, San Diego'.
On Google, Liana Schnabel wrote in a 5/5 review: 'Was crying laughing! I don't know how Steve Carell made his character the funniest thing about this movie. The scene where they run off to go suit shopping is gold, 11/10. I get excited whenever I hear about this film now, it's like crack but in movie form.'
'Loved it, I laughed too much,' admitted Roselyn Edema, while Andrew Penney pronounced it 'the greatest comedy of all time'.
Meanwhile for Matt E on Rotten Tomatoes, Anchorman is 'the Godfather of comedies' while other fans described it as 'probably one of the funnier movies ever made' with the power to 'bring you to tears' with its humour.
Weston K added: 'Super Funny! This is probably the most influential movie of the 21st century.'
While for Kevin K Anchorman is 'the single funniest movie I have ever seen'.
He continued: 'If I am in dire straits with only hours to live, put this movie in front of me and put the subtitles on so I can recite those classic jokes along with the movie.'
This is in contrast with some of the professional critics of two decades ago, with Flick Filosopher's MaryAnn Johanson blasting Anchorman as '[n]inety endless minutes of some of the most stunningly incompetent filmmaking I've ever seen…'
Bruce Westbrook for the Houston Chronicle described the movie as 'overly broad humour with little on its mind', while critic Laura Clifford branded it 'essentially ninety minutes of name-calling and surprise cameos masquerading as comedy'.
The movie currently holds a score of only 66% from critics on review aggregator platform Rotten Tomatoes, while fans have rated it higher at 86%.
Others were more positive, with Rolling Stone's review saying Anchorman 'slaps a goofy smile on your face', while Empire magazine decreed it 'certainly the silliest comedy of the year, but mainly in a good way'. More Trending
'You will laugh. Then you will laugh some more. Then you will laugh still again,' Washington Post's Stephen Hunter promised fans, while the Detroit News marvelled: 'Ferrell has an absolutely magical way of making complete morons lovable.'
'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 if I weren't paid to,' confessed Boston Globe's Ty Burr.
'Proving that even infantile humour can be funny, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy does make you laugh even if you hate yourself for doing so,' shared The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is streaming now for free on ITVX in the UK.
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