6) Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013): “You can’t smoke crack on live TV.”
Anchorman was not just good, it became a cult. This left Anchorman 2 with a harder job than any news anchor in history – and it had to do it without a teleprompt. Because, most challengingly of all, Anchorman had achieved its success on the basis of sight and sound gags, unbelievably stupid yet quotable lines (“LOUD NOISES!”), and sheer, unreserved absurdity (in among some admittedly clever social satire).
It is hard enough for any sequel to be received well – and sequels that somehow have to rinse even more screen time out of mostly inane material stand even less of a chance. As was to be expected, Anchorman 2 was slammed so hard by some critics that it could have shattered even the most solid glass case of emotion.
But Anchorman 2 is by no means an absolute disaster. The montage of Ron Burghundy’s on-air mistakes was close to being chosen here, as was the sequence in which he presents a dolphin show while heavily drunk, which ends with his being thrown out by his employer while confessing that every morning he gets there half an hour early and sexually assaults a star-fish.
Ultimately, however, it is some of the less ridiculous dialogue that rescues Anchorman 2 from being a self-indulgent, exaggerated charade of its predecessor.
Now employed by Global News Network for its pioneering 24 hour news channel, Burgundy and his team specialize in bringing people the news they want, rather than the news they need, which in one particular scene involves them smoking crack live on air. The numerous producers leaping around in the background of the studio holding up signs reading “DON’T SMOKE CRACK!” is funny enough, but it is Ron’s cheerfully informative remark as the scene cuts to them being led away by the police that gives the best finishing flourish – “Well, now we know guys, you can’t smoke crack on live television!”
It may not be great filmmaking in a traditional sense, but it is a perfect example of those ludicrous, throw-away lines that make Ferrell/McKay movies one of the few things on earth that are visible from space. It is also one of the best cracks at the often farce-like nature that is the news, which both films did so well.
Anchorman 2 may not have had the fresh flair of its predecessor, but give credit where credit’s due, and it all belongs to the script.