---
title: "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)"
description: "A very woke movie that conservatives think is on their side. Fascinating."
url: https://www.joekarlsson.com/reviews/anchorman-the-legend-of-ron-burgundy/
---

![A still from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)](https://www.joekarlsson.com/images/reviews/anchorman-the-legend-of-ron-burgundy/backdrop.webp)

# Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Dec 8, 2025 | 2 min read | Rated 4.5 out of 5 | Dir. Adam McKay | Rewatch

A very woke movie that conservatives think is on their side. Fascinating.

Anchorman came out of the Frat Pack era - Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, that whole crew dominating mid-2000s comedy. This was Adam McKay’s directorial debut after years as head writer at SNL, and it essentially created the template for a decade of American comedies that followed: heavy improvisation, absurdist escalation, quotable one-liners, and ensemble casts riffing off each other.

The jazz flute scene, the news team brawl, “I love lamp” - these bits became the blueprint. Judd Apatow’s productions, the Hangover franchise, countless imitators all owe something to what McKay and Ferrell figured out here. The film famously had so much improvised material that they released a pseudo-sequel called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy assembled entirely from alternate takes and deleted scenes.

This was one of the funniest movies I watched in high school. It was on constant repeat. I’ve quoted it more than almost any other film in my life.

Everyone talks about the death of Hollywood comedies now - how they don’t make them like this anymore. And I have a soft spot for McKay and Ferrell’s whole run, Stepbrothers included. But Anchorman has slightly more to say than their later collaborations. It’s actually getting at something about the patriarchy, about oafish men, about how these guys’ attitudes toward women are transgressive and bad. The film is making fun of them. Ron Burgundy is not the hero. He’s the joke.

Which is why it’s so baffling to me that conservatives pine for “comedies like this” while complaining about woke culture. This is a woke comedy. It’s been woke the whole time. The entire point is that these men are idiots and their treatment of women is grotesque. Veronica Corningstone is the only competent person in the building. How are people not seeing this? It’s not subtle. These dudes watch a movie openly mocking fragile masculinity and somehow think it’s on their side.

I feel like I’m losing my mind.

Still one of the funniest movies ever made though.

Also on [Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/joekarlsson/film/anchorman-the-legend-of-ron-burgundy/)

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