Anchors away

A high-profile example of male chauvinism at its most blatant, broadcast news of the ‘70s is a perfect target for satire.

“Anchorman,” an often-hilarious, silly parody of the business and the era, scores big. And in doing so, it gives Will Ferrell – the comic star of “Elf” and “Old School” – his funniest movie character yet.

Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) is a superstar in his San Diego market, the anchor on a top-rated newscast with every hair in place. He has an oversized ego, a flair for the ladies and an unparalleled ability to read news from a teleprompter. He’s surrounded by a team that’s nearly as funny as he is – field reporter Brian Fontana (Paul Rudd), a junior-grade Romeo content with Ron’s castoffs; Champ Kind (David Koechner), a sportscaster with a cowboy mentality; and awesomely dimwitted weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell, the announcer whose mouth turns to mush in the presence of “Bruce Almighty”).

For the four co-workers, life is a holiday filled with easy-to-perform broadcasts followed by all-night parties populated by groupies and hangers-on in a city of adoring viewers. Only we know that Burgundy is a sad, lonely guy. When the party’s over, he heads back to a luxurious home he shares only with his scruffy little dog, with whom he holds extensive, very funny conversations.

Burgundy’s life and career go topsy-turvy when Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) arrives at the station. She’s hired to provide diversity, prompting some guys in the newsroom to ask, “What the heck’s diversity?” For the men of the newsroom, Veronica is an object to be bedded. Although they’re much too crude and silly to appeal to Veronica, Burgundy eventually, and surprisingly, succeeds.

However, when a highway accident delays Burgundy en route to work one night, the ever-eager Veronica grabs the anchor chair and becomes a star herself. Thus the stage is set for turmoil, since Burgundy is much too insecure to put up with a co-anchor. One amusing catastrophe leads to another, until most of the cast ends up in a cage with wild bears at the famous San Diego Zoo. (To explain how and why would take away the fun.)

Sure, this often-sophomoric sketch comedy is of the “Saturday Night Live” variety, but Ferrell and his director and co-writer Adam McKay link the segments cleverly and keep the jokes coming with all sorts of unexpected asides and background bits.

“Anchorman” also is blessed with a seemingly endless parade of very funny cameos, including Jack Black as a motorcycle rider waylaid by a flying burrito and recent Oscar-winner Tim Robbins as a pipe-smoking Public Broadcasting anchor.

The end result is the funniest movie of the summer, a sublimely silly send-up of a sublimely silly era.