Patrick's Reviews > Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century

3.5 stars. It's a great read for 'Anchorman' fans, obviously, and a great trip down memory lane for people like me who have seen the movie a few dozen times at least and can quote most of it from memory (I even have 'Wake Up, Ron Burgundy' on DVD and have watched that multiple times, despite it barely even being a movie). So for super fans like me, it's a real treat, and even had some interesting tidbits that I was not really aware of, such as Veronica Corningstone being loosely based on the career or Jessica Savitch, or Ron Burgundy being loosely based on legendary Detroit newscaster Mort Crim (of 'Detroiters' fame to Tim Robinson-stans like me, and probably others outside of the Detroit metropolitan area).

I also appreciated the seriousness with which Austerlitz treated the movie's comedy. He appreciates the absurd humor of the film, and the larger Ferrell-McKay oeuvre, but he also does a good job at getting at what makes it so special and hilarious, without dampening your enjoyment of the source material. He also acknowledges some of the jokes or characters that haven't really stood the test of time without being preachy about it (mostly), while also acknowledging how progressive the politics of the film are (again, mostly).

Finally, he delves into each of McKay and Ferrell's post-Anchorman careers and how they have grown together and diverged, and it's an interesting postmortem on both the movie and the careers of the principle architects of it.

Ultimately, I think the subject matter has a ceiling - how great can a book about 'Anchorman' really be? But the answer was surprisingly good, and that's a credit to Austerlitz, who clearly did his homework in researching the book and the history of the film itself. It's a must-read for die-hard 'Anchorman' fans, and a nice read for people who liked it.