Grade: B

Verdict: The box-office forecast is very sunny.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

As Forrest Gump might say, stupid is as stupid does.

And stupid does splendidly in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," a blissfully silly comedy about the changing face of the American newsroom in the 1970s.

A San Diego newscaster back then is Channel 6's Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), a superstar (and superstud) with, as the narrator says, "a voice that could make a wolverine purr, and suits that made Frank Sinatra look like a hobo."

A blow-dried blowhard with a scotch in one hand and some inappropriate part of a female's anatomy in the other, Ron is the epitome of the happy-talk local newsmen so common in the '70s, when the hair was as big as the egos. He's not exactly a bad guy; in fact, his viewers love him almost as much as he does. Rather, he's an amiable fool whose empty-headed signature sign-off, "You stay classy, San Diego!" is emblematic of his If-I-can-read-it-it-must-be-news approach to his job.

Ron's colleagues are an all-American, all-male assortment of buffoons. There's blubbering sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), roving reporter with a roving eye Brian Fantana ("Friends'" Paul Rudd), and desperately strange weatherman Brick Tamland ("The Daily Show's" Steve Carell). As far as they're concerned, the newsroom is an adolescent boys' club -- a treehouse with Teleprompters.

Then, catastrophe. Their boss (Fred Willard, the sanest one in the bunch, which is saying something) hires the station's first female reporter, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). She takes her job seriously and wouldn't mind taking over Ron's, despite their mutual attraction.

Don't expect the satiric chops of "Network" or the amusing humanism of "Broadcast News" or even the gently prodding early feminism of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Ferrell co-wrote the script with former "Saturday Night Live" scribe Adam Mckay, who, in turn, makes his feature directing debut. And these guys don't have a serious thought in their heads.

As is often true of movies with an "SNL" lineage, "Anchorman" is more a series of incrementally ludicrous sketches than a cohesive movie. A turf war among San Diego's rival news stations is shamelessly insane, as Ron and his guys square off against the cocky team from Channel 9, led by Vince Vaughn; pipe-smoking public television host Tim Robbins and his posse; and newcomers from the Spanish-language station, fronted by Ben Stiller. Sort of, "Gangs of New York" re-imagined as "Gangs of the Newsroom."

The cast is very funny -- especially Carell who takes a role with Eugene Levy written all over it and gives it an Andy Kaufman twist. His non sequiturs are some of the best things in the movie.

However, the best thing in the movie is, of course, its star, a genius at not "getting it." "Anchorman" isn't a classic, like last year's "Elf" -- it lacks that film's sweet resonance and coherent plot. But it solidifies Ferrell's place alongside Jim Carrey, Jack Black and, when called on, Johnny Depp, as our best comic actors.