ROBERT O'BRIEN
- 1
- review
- 0
- helpful votes
- 2
- ratings
-
Kind of a Big Deal
- How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century
- By: Saul Austerlitz
- Narrated by: Barrett Leddy
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 7
It’s been nearly twenty years since Ron Burgundy burst into movie fans’ lives, reminding San Diego to “stay classy” while lampooning a time gone by—although maybe not as far gone as we might think? In Kind of a Big Deal, comedy historian Saul Austerlitz tells the history of how Anchorman was developed, written, and cast, and how it launched the careers of future superstars like Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd, also setting the stage for a whole decade of comedy to come and influencing films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Superbad, and so many more.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Interspersed with too much modern politics
- By Rick on 01-24-24
- Kind of a Big Deal
- How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century
- By: Saul Austerlitz
- Narrated by: Barrett Leddy
Not enough behind-the-scenes stuff
Reviewed: 10-15-23
The anecdotes about the creation of the movie and the lives of the people that were pivotal to its creation are terrifically entertaining and fun. And the telling of the life of the Ron Burgandy character beyond the film, in commercials and live appearances, was illuminating and quite amusing. But there is a significant amount of what felt like long-winded filler. Describing scenes from the film and reenacting them in detail (though it must be said, usually read with a high degree of skill) before making superfluous comments about them. Too much time dedicated to doing the same for other tangentially related films as well. About 70% of this book was great, but it needed some judicious editing or more pertinent information on its proposed subject. Still, for Anchorman fans, I'd say it's worth checking out (if only for the different, originally planned plotlines which are extremely funny).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!