Fearlessly avoiding any shred of seriousness, Will Ferrell and his cohorts lay claim to territory formerly occupied by Monty Python and the Zucker Brothers. Each scene is a sketch with no barriers of reason or taste, creating a dizzying unpredictability.  (In a departure from form, the zaniness isn’t replaced with a drippy love story that wraps up cutely.)  “Anchorman” wisely uses its Seventies backdrop not as an excuse to make lots of jokes about polyester and chest hair—although those jokes are in there—but rather as a simple device to allow its fearsome foursome of troglodytes free reign with their smirking sexism. 

The performers are all solid, but Steve Carell’s clueless weatherman, Brick Tamland, steals every scene in the movie; a character is really working when every tic or mumbled aside is watched for with giddy anticipation. Ferrell is at home in the character, but it would be innaccurate to call this his movie; certainly it feels nothing like an SNL spinoff.  With talent from “The Ben Stiller Show”, “The Daily Show”, and “Mr. Show”, among others, this little gem is really made from the stuff that until now has only been found in the riskier comedies of cable TV. “Anchorman” is the best comedy of the year, and one of the best in the last five years.