Image by Ahmad Ardity from Pixabay In many ways, I grew up with Adam McKay ever-present in my life. Well, his films at least. From Anchorman and Talladega Nights to Step Brothers and The Other Guys, McKay’s comedic style largely defined my coming-of-age in the 2000s and early 2010s. His writing permeated the lips of my peers who would repeat the ever-so quotable lines as “I’m in a glass case of emotion!” and “Did you touch my drum set?” to great effect (despite the fact they had no idea who wrote them).
But, the 2000s were a different time in terms of cultural sensibilities and what moviegoers find funny. And yet, McKay has remained fairly relevant in the world of cinema with Oscar-winning films The Big Short and Vice. So, in the wake of the release of his Netflix black comedy Don’t Look Up today, I thought I’d take a look back at the filmography of one of the biggest influencers on the comedy of my childhood and adolescence to see if any (or all?) of it holds up now. So, without further ado…LET’S GET STARTED! Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Of all of McKay’s films, the original Anchorman is arguably the one that best defines his early directorial career regarding the type of comedy that he was going for (and, to some extent, continued later on in a different way). That being said, it was not the film of his that I thought of most fondly before going back it and that remains the case. But that doesn’t mean it’s not good. I quite like the premise of the first Anchorman as being a satire of the “action news” format synonymous with the 1970s as well as a silly examination of diversity initiatives and the office antics than can result in. And this premise is best fulfilled by Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and the members of the Channel 4 news team surrounding him. In different ways, the five main male characters embody the stereotypical toxicity and chauvinism of the prototypical 20th-century American man. They all have their moments to shine, but Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) is unquestionably the standout as the severely inept weatherman who gives us some of the funniest and most quotable lines from McKay’s script: “I love lamp” and “LOUD NOISES!!” come to mind (of course, one can’t forget the grenade moment). The central plot that “anchors” (😉) the movie is Burgundy trying to undermine the rise of female reporter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) to stardom as Channel 4’s new anchor. Unfortunately, this plot only works in bits and pieces due to what is (in my humble opinion) the big mistake of McKay writing a one-night stand between Burgundy and Corningstone early on during her time working at Channel 4. It felt forced and unnecessary to the central power dynamic in the office, nor did it serve Burgundy’s redemption arc in the third act that felt incredibly trite and played out. Simply put, watching Ron’s fall from grace was satisfying until McKay decided to redeem him with what comes off as an out-of-touch storytelling device. Does Ron go to Veronica and beg for forgiveness in exchange for mending their friendship and professional rapport? Nope. Does he go live on television to admit that Veronica is, in fact, a better anchor than him and ask the people of San Diego to accept her in his stead? Try again. Instead, McKay makes Veronica seem a gullible and daffy woman by being tricked by competing local anchor Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughn) resulting in him pushing her into a bear habitat at the San Diego Zoo. And how is she saved? Burgundy arrives onto the scene, jumps in, and staves off the bear (although, to be fair, his dog Baxter is the one who actually saves both of their lives). And somehow this is enough for Ron to be redeemed and earn Veronica’s affection once again. For someone who wrote a great buddy-cop parody in the form of The Other Guys and an incredibly pressing political comedy by way of The Big Short, this feels like such lazy storytelling from McKay which keeps me from really liking the first Anchorman movie. That being said, I get why it remains an essential part of 2000s cinematic comedy because it has some stellar moments, lines, and scenes. It just isn’t McKay’s best work. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) In contrast to my lack of nostalgia for the Anchorman series, Talladega Nights was a movie that I grew up watching every couple of months as a pre-teen and thus the plot, characters, and memorable moments remain seared in my brain to this day. And, to that effect, it ended up holding up a little better than the first Anchorman film on a rewatch to remain one of Adam McKay’s good movies. On the one hand, Talladega Nights holds up in terms of its production value. Of McKay’s earlier filmography, it’s one of his best-looking films in terms of the cinematography and sets which helps lend credence to the story being told here. The racing sequences, while not the best ever put to film (lookin’ at you, Ford v Ferrari!), are genuinely engaging and (at moments) even thrilling while never losing the underlying humorous interplay between the main characters. In that respect, the movie served as a predecessor to McKay’s later movie The Other Guys as well as big-budget comedy films of the next decade such as The Wolf of Wall Street and Guardians of the Galaxy. This film also shows us the different comedic layers that Will Ferrell can offer us. While both Ron Burgundy in Anchorman and Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights are both charming yet stupid characters, the former embodies 20th-century chauvinism whereas the latter exemplifies a loving yet critical parody of the simple-minded redneck. Admittedly, Ferrell is not one of the best actors of his generation but that doesn’t mean he isn’t very good at making people laugh a thousand different ways. On that note, some people might watch Talladega Nights and come away with the impression that it comes from a malevolent place in an effort to lambast the fans and athletes of NASCAR and racing culture in general. While I would agree that the film is an effective satire, it doesn’t necessarily do so to criticize the type of people involved. In fact, the reasons the film’s plot works as well as it does is because we root for Ricky Bobby to learn from his mistakes, overcome his fears and accident-related trauma, and triumphantly return to the track with his best friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly). In short, the film comes off to me as wanting people to celebrate racing in the way that Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz persuades us to reminisce about peoples’ love of buddy-cop movies by embracing both the good and bad of them. All of that put together would Talladega Nights an all-in-all better film than Anchorman. But what puts it over the top (in my humble opinion) is the film’s second act exploring the fallout of Ricky Bobby’s accident by seeing him rekindle his toxic relationship with his alcoholic father Reese (Gary Cole). Whereas McKay faltered in redeeming Ron Burgundy in Anchorman, I found Reese mentoring Ricky not only a great excuse for some hilarious scenes but also a better-written way of projecting his character arc towards redemption as a more mature and humbler racer by the final race with Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) begins. Admittedly, the first Anchorman may be a funnier movie than Talladega Nights. However, for me it remains a better film with a more effectively structured story and (mostly) more likeable characters. If you’re worried that it doesn’t hold up more than a decade later, give it a rewatch and surprise yourself. Step Brothers (2008) Revisiting McKay’s third feature film, Step Brothers, was nerve racking because I was not fond of it when it came out and expected to not like it this time around. But, I went into it as open minded as possible with the hopes that Ferrell & Reilly’s chemistry in Talladega Nights would be enough to hold the movie together. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t at all. To be fair, Step Brothers has some genuinely funny moments; I really enjoyed the montage where Dale (Reilly) and Brennan (Ferrell) repeatedly sabotage Derek’s (Adam Scott) efforts to sell houses, and Kathryn Hahn offered several laugh-out-loud moments as Derek’s sex-crazed wife Alice. And once Dale and Brennan become friends, the film is admittedly more watchable. But that’s really all I have nice to say about it. Simply put, the story that McKay tells in Step Brothers has virtually no likeable characters that evoke sympathy or love from the audience. For nearly half of the film, both Ferrell and Reilly’s characters are inconsiderate, selfish man-children whose sole motives are to mooch off their parents Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Nancy (Mary Steenburgen) to a boiling point that nearly breaks the family apart. Furthermore, Robert and Nancy are unempathetic enablers who lack the gall to stand up to their adult children and tell them what they need to hear most of the time. And don’t even get me started on Derek, who is cartoonishly narcissistic so as to embody the prototypical dickhead in comedy films like this. But at the heart of why this movie fails is the lack of attachment to Dale and Brennan’s step-sibling relationship. When they hate each other, they do things that are so utterly despicable that I want both of them to be kicked to the curb. And when they start bonding and liking each other, they never offer the kind of complicated dynamic that their characters in Talladega Nights embodied. This makes both the fallout from their “Prestige Worldwide” presentation and their “redemption” at the Catalina Wine Mixer hollow and pointless. Ultimately, Step Brothers feels like a poorly-written excuse for McKay to make a movie with Ferrell and Reilly again. Unfortunately, the result is mediocre at best and unwatchable at worst. The Other Guys (2010) Finally, with The Other Guys, Adam McKay gives us a genuinely great movie given what it set out to do. For those who feel that strong nostalgia for Anchorman, Talladega Nights or Step Brothers, that’s how I feel about this film. Let’s dive in, shall we? What is perhaps most impressive about The Other Guys is the elements of McKay’s writing on display here that foreshadow the strong screenplays to come in his future (namely, The Big Short). For one, the movie steps up what he strived for in Talladega Nights and serves as a solidly put-together satire that both parodies and celebrates its roots in the buddy-cop subgenre. But this extends to the film’s protagonists and the actors that portray them, specifically how their relationship ebbs and flows throughout the movie. Initially, The Other Guys gives a classic straight-man juxtaposed to the off-the-wall partner, with Will Ferrell as the former in playing Allen Gamble and Mark Wahlberg as the latter in playing Terry Holtz. But through the course of the story, both characters show sides of the other so as to play against type. Notably, Ferrell calls to mind his more dramatic acting chops from films like Stranger than Fiction to embody the straight-man character while also giving bursts of comedic genius (particularly once his backstory as “Gator” is revealed). But that’s not to forget Wahlberg, who proves in this movie he has a fantastic sense of comedic timing and self-awareness when paired with the right writers/directors and actors (the repeating bit about Terry shooting Derek Jeter always gets me!). Based on his performance in The Other Guys, it’s not surprising that he found himself as the lead in commercially successful comedy film series like Ted and Daddy’s Home. When combined with these two actors, McKay’s dialogue shines more than it ever had in his previous movies. Ferrell and Wahlberg’s back-and-forth makes for some of the biggest laughs of a movie from this era. There are several scenes between them in The Other Guys that reman gut-busters of riotous laughter for me upon rewatching them (shoutout to the “lion vs. tuna” argument and the dinner scene with Eva Mendes). But the cherry on top of this comedy is the fact that it’s a pretty competently made action flick. Not only does the opening car chase with Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson encapsulate what’s to love about over-the-top action movies of the 2000s, but Allen and Terry’s slow-motion escape from David Ershon’s (Steve Coogan) investment meeting in the third act greatly embodies this type of movie in the best way. But those are just some honorable mentions, because none of the action set pieces or fight scenes in the movie feel out of place, underdeveloped, or hollow. Needless to say, The Other Guys remains one of my favorite Adam McKay movies as well as one of the best comedies of the past twenty years. While it may not be an absolute masterpiece, it’s a movie that I’ll be happy to revisit every now and again knowing that I will enjoy it just as much (if not more) than before. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) Despite my lack of nostalgic attachment to the original Anchorman, I actually went to go watch the sequel in theaters with my two cousins. Was it because I was a teenage boy who thought it’d be funny? Probably. 😊 Was it funny? Honestly, I remember enjoying it in theaters and was hopeful that I’d like it this time around. Similar to the first film, Anchorman 2 parodies the world of journalist with a fairly inspired and intelligent premise: Ron Burgundy, through his sheer incompetence as a news anchor, inadvertently creates many of the staples of the 24-hour news cycle that began in the 1980s. While the film’s plot never exploits this premise to full effect, I commend McKay for not completely phoning this movie in. Unfortunately, many of the other elements of this movie simply don’t work as well as its predecessor. Notably, I found the jokes and zany antics of Anchorman 2 much more hit-and-miss. Despite some highlights, Will Ferrell’s take on Ron Burgundy has become more anachronistic (and not in an endearing way) than in 2004. This was especially clear when he was meeting the family of his boss/girlfriend Linda Jackson (Meagan Good) for the first time. Whereas Burgundy’s “prim-and-proper” misogyny in Anchorman fit with that movie’s purpose as a satire, his “soft” racism in that dinner scene in Anchorman 2 feels not only outdated and in poor taste but utterly irrelevant to what the film’s central narrative is striving to explore. Of course, the standout character just like in the first film is undoubtedly Steve Carell’s Brick Tamland. Not only was his introduction at the fake funeral scene genuinely hilarious, but his back-and-forth with Chani (Kristen Wiig) made for some of the movie’s funnier moments. I just wish that the other members of the news team and supporting characters were equally funny. Is Anchorman 2 as entertaining as the first one? Yeah, I guess. But the sporadic humor and repeated bits (like the “news team brawl”) do not justify the plot and characterization of the movie. To that end, Anchorman 2 just feels like a superfluous excuse for McKay to stick with his comfort zone rather than branch out into more revolutionary territory like with his next film. The Big Short (2015) I imagine that many people who saw The Big Short when it came out and were familiar with McKay’s prior work were stunned to learn that he had something like The Big Short in his creative wheelhouse. Perhaps what is most surprising is that the film is not a straight-up comedy. Far from it; by tackling some pretty intense and dramatic subject matter, McKay managed to shift gears and craft a new part of his reputation as a filmmaker with what remains to date his best movie. What is perhaps most impressive about The Big Short is how many balancing acts that it pulls off. For one, McKay injects humor for the sake of levity at just the right moments without overly relying on laughs to tell his story. This best works through the fantastic performances of the cast (in my humble opinion, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling are the standouts). Aside from the effective tonal shifts, McKay’s approach to telling this story is more than impressive. In short (😊), he sets out to educate his audience about the behind-the-scenes complexities of the long-term causes behind the 2007-08 housing financial crisis without ever being stifled by such a daunting task. Rather, he embraces his signature sense of humor to enhance how he tells his story. I particularly enjoy his use of celebrity cameos from the likes of Margot Robbie, Anthony Bourdain, and Selena Gomez in non-sequiturs to use metaphors to explain some complex financial concepts. Also, given the fact that The Big Short is examining real-life events through the eyes and experiences of real people, I appreciated how McKay had some of the characters break the fourth wall to either clarify the liberties being taken as well as offering commentary about how certain people are being portrayed. Simply put, all of these elements come together to create a dark comedy that is funny while also being informative entertainment and poignantly damning social commentary. For those of you who have avoided watching The Big Short out of fear that it will go over your head or will be more documentary than drama, take my word for it. Watch this movie; you won’t regret it one bit. Vice (2018) Coming off of the near-universal praise and commercial success of The Big Short, McKay sought to upheld his newfound reputation as a self-serious director who mixes comedy with social commentary by making a biopic about Dick Cheney starring Christian Bale in the lead role. Is it as good The Big Short? Nope, but it’s still a pretty good movie. I remember really liking Vice when I first saw it not long after it came out, despite what many critics (and some of my friends and fellow cinephiles) felt about it. And I found on a rewatch that I still liked it but its flaws stuck out a lot more to me. But, to begin with the strengths. If you come away thinking anything after seeing Vice, it’ll be that Christian Bale is one of the best actors working today. Despite some filmgoers’ reservations about “method acting,” it’s clear that it works for some actors including Bale. It is his full commitment to physically and emotionally transforming into the version of Dick Cheney that he wants to give to the world that makes this movie more than just good. Does the writing of Cheney have some problems in terms of historical accuracy and potentially cartoonish character assassination? Sure, but that says nothing about just how damn good Bale is in the role. That’s not to understate the other great supporting performances in Vice, though. On a rewatch, I found myself really loving Amy Adams as Cheney’s wife Lynne for the various dimensions that she brings to the characters. In some scenes, she serves as her ambitious husband’s moral compass by offering tough love and sound political advice. But then in other scenes, she brings forth some semblance of Lynne’s ambitions by beckoning to the timeless mantra of women to powerful men being just as (if not more) powerful than the men they are married to. The other supporting actors, such as Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, play their roles well without ever overshadowing Bale’s central presence. Similar to The Big Short, this movie also does offer up some genuinely funny moments while being surrounded by intense human and political drama (I always laugh out loud as McKay’s false ending involving Cheney’s “retirement” from politics). Unfortunately, Vice struggles more with balancing tone than The Big Short which causes the film to come off as somehow dourer and depressing than a movie about one of the worst economic crises in modern history. In addition, whereas films like The Other Guys and The Big Short feel breezy in terms of their runtime Vice feels bloated and unnecessarily long. This, of course, is never a good sign for any movie. Regarding its pacing, McKay and his creative team come off as more sporadic than in some of his other work which hurts the message being conveyed. Overall, though, my biggest complaint about the film on a rewatch is that it feels somewhat soft-hitting for being a film about one of the most notorious power grabs in American presidential politics. To tell the story of Cheney’s behind-the-scenes puppeteering in the U.S. executive branch is to humanize him without making him feel relatable to the average viewer. Unfortunately, Bale’s acting and McKay’s direction felt like they went too far in making me fond of Cheney’s climb to power (if not his personality and principles). All that being said, I do think Vice is worth seeing if only for Bale’s and Adams’s performances. Just check your expectations before pressing the “Play” button. Don’t Look Up (2021) Based on early critical reviews of McKay’s newest film, Don’t Look Up, I was initially quite worried if he was reverting to some of his less-than-appealing sensibilities apparent in some of his earlier work. But then I watched the movie, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie (while not a masterpiece) is a funny and entertaining social commentary fitting of the times we’re in. One of the most surprising things I found about Don’t Look Up was that McKay seemed to tackle the denial and politicization of climate change with some of his signature humor found in films like Anchorman and Talladega Nights. Yet it was cloaked in striving to satirize the utter ridiculousness of our society’s polarized nature in the context of a dire situation where we all should be united around a common cause. Simply put, it was refreshing to watch one of McKay’s more recent films and laugh a lot rather than just feel depressed most of the time. Of course, his writing could not work at all without the stellar cast that he assembled for this film. While there are many actors in Don’t Look Up with funny moments throughout the two-hour-plus runtime, there were (in my humble opinion) three standouts. Two of them were the leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who play the scientists trying to warn the world about the planet-killing comet in the movie. Not only do their respective characters, Dr. Randall Mindy and Kate Dibiasky, cope with the oncoming apocalypse differently (which makes for them pretty funny moments) but also their different tactics for trying to enlist the government’s help make for enjoyable arcs for each of them. Whereas DiCaprio plays Randall as a panicked and nervous yet humble nerd who gets caught up in his newfound fame, Lawrence plays Kate as a spirited and intelligent young woman who gives in to her cynicism and loses all desire to care about anything anymore. Both actors tackle these characters with great comedic effect. However, what is undoubtedly the best supporting performance in the film is Meryl Streep as President Orlean who encapsulates the many stereotypes of modern American politicians as self-serving narcissists wanting nothing more than to deny reality and be right above all else. While many other experienced and capable actors may have come off as cheesy or unbelievable in this role, Streep never causes me to question the reality of her world as president because there have been several high-profile people in politics that, in one sense or another, have existed and continue to exist to this day. All I can say more about Don’t Look Up is to not pay attention to the reviews. This movie is certainly an enjoyable ride (albeit an overly long one) with some solid performances, funny lines and scenes, and some decently-handled social commentary. Sure, it doesn’t hold a candle to The Big Short as a political drama or The Other Guys as a straight-up comedy, but there’s enough reminiscent of McKay’s best work in the film to make it worth a watch on a Sunday evening when you want to have fun. With all that being said, here is my ranking of the films of Adam McKay:
What is your favorite Adam McKay film? What kind of movie do you want to see McKay direct next? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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