Stay Crappy, Ron Burgundy

At the height of Will Ferrell's movie career, the former Saturday Night Star was more unavoidable than Adam Sandler, Chris Farley and David Spade combined. Arguably his magnum opus was the 2004 comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy which, despite being a minor hit at best, is probably the most fondly remembered of his comedic works. So when Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues was announced last year, it was met by fans of the original with great hope for a continuing franchise. Sadly, while it managed to accrue decent reviews and a better box office draw, its release during the uber-crowded holiday season caused it to fly under more than a few radars, mine included. The result was a so-so theatrical run that was almost completely forgotten by most. So now that a little time has passed, does this sequel stack up to the fun and quotable- and at times, brilliant - modern classic?

Proof that jheri curls are just plain wrong

The film takes place several years after the conclusion of the first Anchorman, with renowned newsman Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) being fired due to his sloppy work. After sinking into drink and depression and separating from his much more successful wife Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Ron is recruited to anchor an all-new, 24-hour news channel. Alongside his loyal news team (Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner), Ron wants to make the most of his second chance, though he is handicapped by a graveyard shift timeslot, a smug, superior rival in prime-time anchorman Jack Lime (James Marsden) and learning to operate under the heel of black, female studio chief Linda Jackson (Meagan Good). In overcoming those obstacles, Ron Burgundy succeeds in ways nobody could fathom and changes the way people watch the news for all time.

I'd say Old vs. New, but James Marsden is actually 40.

Well, there's no nice way to say this: here the sequel is vastly inferior to the original. It's not that Anchorman 2 doesn't have its moments, or isn't particularly funny when it wants to be. It's genuinely great seeing the four leads back again, their camaraderie just as fresh and entertaining as it was nine years prior. Returning director Adam McKay gets good performances out of his actors, and while not every line of dialogue is gold, the best ones can slip under the radar and catch the audience completely unaware, making the film work hard for its laughs. The film also takes an interesting turn in its portrayal of the news, in this case its look at racial integration, the empowerment of African Americans in the media, and the transformation of the news from the early days of Walter Kronkite to the buzz-word TMZ and FOX News style of today's guerilla journalism. No, it's not meant to be educational, but that Anchorman 2 bothers to acknowledge it at all is reticent of the brains behind it. Finally, there are dozens of laudable cameo appearances, culminating in a sequel "News Team Battle Royale" that actually manages to beat the very good one from the first entry. Simply put, when Anchorman 2 is on its A-game, it appears unstoppable.

That moustache is still hypnotic, though...

But for every worthy laugh, awesome cameo and genuine moment of mirth, there are dozens of dead zones where just about everything goes wrong. For some reason, the editing team does a lousy job pacing this flick, which is strange when you consider that it's the same team that worked with McKay on The Other Guys, Step Brothers and the original Anchorman. So either Brent White was seriously off his meds, or nothing could possibly be salvageable from the lackadaisical story penned by Ferrell and McKay. The script does nothing of value with Applegate, who is still shoved in to the detriment of a superior, more interesting lead female character in Good's sassy, brilliant studio head. Whole storylines are introduced as a means to present some sort of conflict for Ron, but are then scrapped halfway through without any true resolution. McKay and Ferrell have ABSOLUTELY no idea how to use a creative genius such as Kristen Wiig, despite setting her character up in the most perfect of ways. And while Judah Nelson is positively the worst child actor I've ever seen, I still can't put all the blame on him because I'm not 100% certain that wasn't intentional. And either way, it didn't work.

"Adam McKay doesn't recognize my true worth."

Frankly, it all falls down to one solitary issue: Anchorman 2 just isn't all that funny. It TRIES to pull out the big laughs, and when the script focuses on the interactions between the News Team, the outrageous cameos and some of the more nuanced dialogue, it manages to hit that sweet spot to which all comedies aspire. But too often the movie shoots for the stars, only to fall tragically short. Worse, the fake melodramatics are punched up a bit TOO much, making that lack of true humor all the more noticeable. And even the really funny bits aren't all that memorable. Any fan of the original Anchorman probably has a dozen favorite lines of dialogue that could be rattled off the top of their head, but there just isn't that level of immortalising here, with the only ones that stick being call-backs to those great lines from the first movie.

And this is why we hate them.

The result is that Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues might amuse you for a couple of hours, but you'll forget why almost immediately afterward. Yes, there are a few funny bits, and again that News Team brawl - though you have to wait until the end - is one of the bawdiest things I've seen of late. But this is definitely a fan-only event, and even those who loved the original Anchorman won't be all that impressed by the watered-down schlock that wasn't worth a ten year wait. If you're desperate for a comedy to see, and you loved the original, there's definitely something appealing about this sequel. But those expecting a return to the glory days of Will Ferrell will be sorely tested by yet another missed mark.

Ride Like Hell and Run Like You Stole Something

On my last day off from work, I had so much extra time that I decided to pull a two-fer at the movies. Sometimes I'll do this, especially when my schedule has no overly-burdensome tasks laid out for me and I've got nobody else with whom to share my time. And so today I'm going to talk about two VERY different movies, the bike messenger thriller (yes, you read that right) Premium Rush and the sci-fi drama Robot & Frank.

In Premium Rush, rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Wilee, a thrill junkie of a NYC bicycle messenger, one of the many riding through the streets of the city (my own recent jaunt to the United States' most populous city did not witness any cyclists, but maybe it was an off week). Among his peers, Wilee is considered one of the best, and it's his reputation that gets him a premium rush job, transporting one envelope from a friend from one side of the city to the other quickly. But the package turns out to be a hot commodity, as Wilee finds himself dodging Chinese mafia, dirty cops, legit cops, and even rival bike messengers in a bid to get the package delivered on time.

"Why yes, I WAS that kid from 3'rd Rock!"

This is a huge year for Gordon-Levitt. After finally gaining mainstream acceptance with his role in 2010's Inception, he has been steadily raising his status as a Hollywood star, and 2012 looks to be his biggest year yet. He was a huge reason Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises was as good as it was, and he'll be following up Premium Rush with the sci-fi thriller Looper, which is one of my more anticipated sci-fi flicks this year. He also has a role (how large, I'm not sure) in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, which is as big as a deal as it sounds. While his Wilee does come off as kind of a jackass at times, it's Gordon-Levitt's charm that ensures that we never get tired of his schtick. He's front and center most of the time, and his casual, take-no-shit attitude and his interactions with others are what makes him such an effective protagonist.

"What do you mean he's 'not Batman'?"

Surprisingly, for a film centering around such an obscure job this movie never feels out of place or far from your comfort zone. Replace the bike chases with car chases, and you've got your standard high-level action film ready for distribution. That might make it seem like Premium Rush is no different than anything else out there (and you'd be right), but that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing; the film packs all the excitement of your standard thrill-ride, simply replacing four wheels with two. The supporting cast seems to have been set up with this action pastiche in mind; with Dania Ramirez and Aasif Mandvi doing the best they can with limited character. Michael Shannon especially steps up, as his cliche dirty cop with a gambling problem would be a disaster in anybody else's hands. Director David Koepp's biggest coup was casting the former Academy Award nominee in the role, which benefits from his experience and ability to command a scene effortlessly.

Out-riding all his newfound glory.

Anyone expecting Premium Rush to have more brains than it does is bound to be disappointed. The biggest surprise is that for an action piece with no emotional commitment, it's a lot more fun than it really has any right to be. You might want to overlook this movie (and as it made very little opening weekend, a lot of people did just that), but for a mindless action flick this one is actually clever enough to make the cut. It might not be Top 10 material, but it's still a lot of fun.

The next title required me to head to the oft-cited Coolidge Corner Theater. The story of Robot & Frank definitely struck me as a peculiarly odd, but somehow ingenious concept. Set in the near future, it stars Frank Langella as Frank, a mentally-afflicted father and former cat burglar who has strained relationships with his children. When his son (James Marsden) brings him a robot butler (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) to help keep his life in order and remain healthy, Frank is at first distrustful of having the thing around the house, but slowly begins to accept Robot's help. This comes to a head when he discovers that his new companion has no protocol that says that stealing is wrong, prompting Frank to plan a major heist to strike at the rich folk who he believes don't deserve their vast wealth.

On the surface, Robot & Frank has a lot going for it; a great cast (which also includes Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler and Jeremy Sisto), an interesting hook, and some clever societal statements made it one of the smarter-looking movies this year. And for the most part, that is the correct assumption. Clever in a completely different way than Premium Rush could ever have hoped, this movie is more of an actor's film, with the characters guiding film in a way you don't see much anymore. The acting is all excellent, especially Langella, who might be Oscar baiting if the film can gather any traction beyond the science fiction crowd. If Sam Rockwell's under-loved role in Moon is any indication however, the Academy won't be giving this sci-fi movie any credit anytime soon. That's a shame for both Langella and Sarsgaard, who once again provides the kind of excellent performance we now expect from him. Together, they create a nice one-two punch and are one of the better pairs I've seen in 2012.

Two of the best performances you'll see this year.

Unfortunately, the film's slow and inconsistent pacing make many a scene less interesting than the film as a whole. While we get to experience the budding friendship between our two leads, director Jake Schreier does so at the expense of many of the other characters, most notably Sarandon's librarian who befriends Frank only to be cut from most of the main story. While the story as a whole is solid, and at times a ton of fun, there is a lot of evidence that Schreier is - for good or bad -  the first-time director that he is.

Guess who wishes Liv Tyler was elsewhere right now?

Still, Robot & Frank has a lot of charisma in its bones, and the story and characters combine for a fun if not perfect time at the movies. If it comes to a theater near you, it's a solid option as a smart, funny, and clever film. Langella and Sarsgaard are well worth the effort, and even if you somehow miss this small gem, definitely take the time to see it on DVD when it's available.