Will Farrell + Steve Carell + side burns & leisure suits – sophomore humor = the occasionally very funny movie.
I don’t know, maybe it was the martini and two glasses of wine I had the night I watched this, but there were some parts that had me howling out loud. (The street fight between rival newsteams with homage touches to ’70s films, to name just one.) Then again, I didn’t have so much to drink that I thought the entire movie was comedy gold.
The role of a pompous TV newscaster threatened by the arrival of the first female co-anchor set in 1970s San Diego is ripe with comic possibilities. Christina Applegate holds her own opposite Will Ferrell, with good supporting character work coming from Paul Rudd and my new favorite funnyman Steve Carell. Unfortunately, there were a few too many comedy misses and more sophomoric humor than I care for in a movie, no matter who’s telling the jokes. [*** out of 5]
2 Things @ Once 