KIND OF A BIG DEAL
DON’T ACT LIKE YOU’RE NOT IMPRESSED BY THIS HISTORY OF A COMEDIC MASTERPIECE
★★★★
AUTHOR SAUL AUSTERLITZ / OUT 22 AUGUST / 320 PAGES
LET’S GET THE obvious question out of the way: this book sadly does not smell of rich mahogany. On the plus side, it also does not smell of Sex Panther, the cologne beloved of Anchorman’s Brian Fantana which is illegal in nine countries and legendarily boasts an aroma reminiscent of “Bigfoot’s dick”.
As the above paragraph indicates, it is basically impossible to talk about Anchorman, the Will Ferrell-fronted 2004 newsroom comedy, without dropping in quotes from the movie. It is perhaps, pound for pound, the most quotable film of all time (“Scotchy Scotch Scotch”, “Great Odin’s raven!”, “I love lamp”), inspiring birthday cards, T-shirts, mugs, and infinite ways to annoy people at parties. Almost two decades after Anchorman’s release, Ron Burgundy still lives, a gleaming, resplendently ’tached monument to American superiority and machismo. Hence the arrival of this excellent book, examining the endurance of the whole damn phenomenon.
Comedy historian Saul Austerlitz has a breezy writing style, making this an enjoyable ride down the road to Anchorman’s creation. And what a strange, winding road it was. The origins lie in an unmade comedy about used-car salesmen called ‘August Blowout’, with Ferrell as a vehicular hypeman who gets an erection while talking up the Ford Expedition. Then Ferrell caught a TV interview with ’70s news anchor Mort Crim, and he and director Adam Mckay were away. Drawing on new interviews with them, plus others, Austerlitz charts the movie’s development in fascinating detail, from studio rejections (“We’re never gonna make this movie,” said one executive, red-faced from laughing through a script reading. “It’s too crazy”) to the edit (the duo attempted to end the movie with outtakes from Smokey And The Bandit). We learn the thought-process behind that moustache: described by one person as “lush yet disciplined… cruel yet not haughty”.
Yet some of the most interesting bits of the book are not the ‘making of’ parts, but about the cultural elements it drew from, and what it led to. There’s a detour into the real-life ’70s inspirations, and its legacy is explored, for good and ill — it’s noted that Burgundy has become a figurehead for the alt-right, “repurposed by the edgelords of the internet as an all-purpose spokesman”. While clearly a super-fan (the book’s a little too kind on the sequel), Austerlitz is clear-eyed on the film’s odd misstep, such as a misjudged jab at Indian food.
Still, it’s a passionate celebration of an oddly iconic cinematic work. And a highly entertaining book about a man who would never, ever read one, leatherbound or not.
VERDICT
A sharp and funny reappraisal, packed with behind-the-scenes stories, this lays out why Anchorman still matters. Love lamp? You’ll love this.