Yeah, you nailed it. OK, I chuckled during a few parts…like the hilarious “Are you trying to ask if I would like to go to a party in your pants?” There was a setup and a payoff. Pretty much the rest of the movie was intensely random and aggressively unfunny. I just went ahead and hit “stop” on the DVD player during the last (?) scene where Baxter was talking the bears out of eating them. Awful.
I think Will Ferrell “gets it” more than the three you’ve listed, who are (with rare exceptions) collectively as funny as a heart attack. Williams thinks louder = funnier, Myers thinks funny voice = funny, and Carrey thinks spastic = funny. I think all three are funniest when they don’t resort to these crutches (well, not Myers; I don’t think he’s funny at all).
Ferrell is great because he does understand timing and nuance. He can do over-the-top as well as the best of them, but anyone who watched SNL knew he could be a terrific straight man as well. His parts in Anchorman, Elf and Dick are nothing like each other, but he owns each role. It may not be up to everyone’s taste, but he’s one of the few film comedians I look most forward to seeing, whether in a cameo or as a lead.
I thought the dog had all the best lines.
Seriously…I’m neutral on Will Ferrel. I’d give Anchorman two stars. But I thought “bark twice if you’re in Milwaukee” was a reall funny line.
Robin Williams is also most guilty of thinking funny voice=funny. As is Adam Sandler.
Will Ferrell is also one of the only reasons I’m interested at all in the new Woody Allen movie, Melinda and Melinda.
What did in Anchorman for me was it’s coming out basically at the same time as Dodgeball. I love Will Ferrell, and I think Anchorman had a lot of funny lines (“Yeah, Brick threw a trident at a guy’s heart, did you see that?!?”), but the story and the acting was nothing compared to Dodgeball, for me at least. Vince Vaughn is just a funny guy, no two ways about it. If seeing Dodgeball hadn’t exposed the overall weakness of Anchorman, I’d like it a lot more (I don’t hate it, but I’ve seen better from Ferrell). Dodgeball just killed me though.
i try not ot like will ferrell, but sometimes it’s kind of hard. a small percentage of his snl skits were pretty damn funny. but most were terribly annoying. those damn cheerleaders rang the death knell for snl.
i thought anchorman was better than average. i loved the news team rumble. stupid, yes, but funny. and the names… how can you not like a sports guy names champ kind? i thought paul rudd looked funny. and steve carill was good, but isn’t he a tv news guy everywhere?
but making fun of newscasters is like shooting fish in a barrel. the daily show killed spoofing reporters. you can’t do it any better. it’s kind of how i felt about death to smoochy. skewering barney? it’s been done.
i thought elf was great. i was convinced before seeing it that i’d hate it. but other than the third act dragging a bit and brimming over with schmaltz (but hey, it’s a christmas movie), it was excellent.
Interesting you should say this, because that was my experience too. I went to see both of these movies at the $1 theater, within about a week of each other. Dodgeball first – twice, in fact. That was absolutely hilarious, and a great spoof of the whole “sports movie where rag-tag underdog misfits beat the well-oiled team for the championship” genre.
Then I went to check out “Anchorman”. Ugh. There was simply no comparison. There were a few laughs – like the stupid/silly/amusing-anyways news team rumble. But overall, I could have slept through it and enjoyed it just as much. I left the theater that day wishing I’d gone and seen Dodgeball again instead. 
No. I rented Badder Santa because I love black comedies and Billy Bob Thornton but I think I laughed about three times during the movie.
I did develop a huge crush on Lauren Graham by watching it though. Wasn’t a total loss.
Will Ferrell: rocks
Anchorman: sucked. (or at least the first 15 minutes did, before I shut it off)
Elf: Great movie
Cowbell skit: the best. (My five year old has it memorized and cracks me up with the line “I’ve got a fever. and the only prescription is more cowbell!”)
Old School: sucked. (or at least the first 15 minutes did; see above)
Night at the Roxbury: the best.
Craig the Cheerleader: the best.
Upcoming Bewitched: I dunno; not looking good. I’ll see it anyway.
Oh, and Bad Santa reeked. Man, I had so much respect for Billy Bob after Sling Blade, and I don’t think he’s done a damn thing of value after that. Except marrying what’s her name, and he even screwed that up.
I thought Friday Night Lights was pretty good.
While I enjoyed Dodgeball, I actually think it paled in comparison to Anchorman. I think while I can ake an over-the-top Ben Stiller charcter for a bit (like in Anchorma) for a whole movie like Dodgeball or Zoolander I just really start to squirm. What I can’t figure out is out of all the differing opinons in this thread…which one is right? Certainly we can’t all be right…can we?
That is the only movie I have ever walked out on.
Maybe I was in the wrong mood, but I thought Anchorman was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen outside of the MST3K genre. And I thought Steve Carell was wasted in it. Generally, I think Will Ferrel is fine.
As for Bad Santa, it’s up there with Raising Arizona as one of my favorite comedies. Then again, I thought Drowning Mona was an underrated and quite funny black comedy.
Robin Williams is good, but a little goes a long way these days. I liked Mrs. Doubtfire though.
I used to loath Jim Carrey in his Ace Ventura/Dumb and Dumber days, but he won me over with Liar Liar, The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine. But then I thought Bruce Almighty was a preachy piece of dreck.
Mike Myers? Wayne’s World was great, and the first Austin Powers was good. Now I pretty much have zero interest in ever seeing him in anything again. Maybe he should just put back on the mask and get back to hacking up people in the Halloween series.
In summary, I hated Anchorman, and Dodgeball was pretty funny.
Loved The Man Who Wasn’t There.
I’ve always been ambivalent about Ferrell, but put me in the “Anchorman was frickin’s hysterical” camp. I also really enjoyed Elf as well. I guess I like him more than I thought I did.
Never cared for him much on SNL, Roxbury was pure crap. Didn’t see Old School but someday I’ll get around to it.
Come to think of it, Monster’s Ball wasn’t half bad either.
Damn you! You post stealer!
I must admit I sacrificed three animals from each major Kingdom in gratitude to Fortuna when I learned that Will Ferrell’s casting as Ignatius in Confederacy of Dunces is in permanent drydock. Evidently funding fell through.
I liked Anchorman better than Dodgeball but that Lance Armstrong scene was hilareous.
So it’s settled, then: Anchorman is either a brilliant, hilarious movie or the worst lame attempt at comedy in decades.