ANCHORMAN ushered in the modern, improv-driven style of film comedy, and for that reason alone deserves serious attention. KIND OF A BIG DEAL is too insubstantial to do its subject justice. Saul Austerlitz conducted dozens of interviews, but we don’t hear from key subjects, including Will Ferrell and director/co-writer Adam McKay, anywhere near enough. Aside from some interesting material on the development of the screenplay, only one chapter really takes flight, on McKay’s directorial approach, encouraging his cast to “let the squirrel out of the bag.” Otherwise, the book is repetitive—Austerlitz seems astounded that character names are sometimes changed as a script is revised—and digressive, closing with a halfhearted exploration of the criticism that ANCHORMAN and other films of its type are about the stunted emotional state of the American male, and general thoughts on contemporary comedy. Fans of the movie will learn some interesting trivia.

As a fan of Anchorman and pretty much anything Will Ferrell does, this book was right up my alley. I loved all of the behind the scenes stories and the snippets about the original script. This is a must read of fans of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Now on to Netflix to watch Ron Burgundy in action.

This is a great look behind the classic comedy "Anchorman." Austerlitz gets interviews with McKay, Ferrell and all the others involved with the film, If you love the movie, you'll love the book. So many fascinating nuggets even for someone who has devoured the DVD and hours of extras.

Netgalley provided me with a free egalley in return for an honest review.

I loved this book! Anchorman is one of my favorite movies, and I loved reading all the behind the scenes stories about such a cult classic film. Lots of great insights about Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and more. I highly recommend for any fan of the movie!

Thanks to Penguin Group for my ARC!

This book was billed a little differently than it really should have been. As a book that leads you to believe it will be entirely about anchorman, a significant amount of time is used discussing movies and things other than anchorman. While still interesting, not what I was hoping for.

“Laughter will solve precisely none of our problems, personal and collective. But if there is any salve for our pain and our grief that genuinely works, that lifts us out of our melancholy and provides us with brief snatches of bliss, it is comedy.”

Kind of a Big Deal is a love letter to Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and the comedy cinematic universe they’ve created.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was easy to follow; I was nervous it was going to be too many different formats, judging by the description. The author did a great job condensing all of his interviews and research into nearly organized chapters that connected different topics. I loved all of the new tidbits I learned about Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, the Frat Pack, and Hollywood. I can’t believe The Campaign wasn’t mentioned once though - such a good movie! After reading this, I had to do a re-watch of the Anchorman movie and I realized just how many of the quotes have become a part of my language.

highlights:
- deep dive into Anchorman, both good + bad
- an entire chapter dedicated to Ron Burgundy’s mustache
- behind-the-scenes look at some of the best 2000s comedy movies
- explores how Anchorman impacted + infiltrated America for more than a decade

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC! I’m not much of a non-fiction reader but I love Anchorman and Will Ferrell so I had to request this. This was such a fun deep dive with historical context to the broadcast portion of the film/s as well. I found this to be very interesting and it scratched that itch that doing a Wikipedia deep dive does multiplied by 100.

When I saw that I was approved to review this book in advance I was SO excited!!

Although I can't say that this was the best book to read (i.e. timing issues and clunkiness in some areas), you will definitely love it if you love Will Ferrell!

I primarily enjoyed this book for two reasons: (1) I love ANCHORMAN, and (2) I love it when someone deep-dives into a film and reveals a treasure trove of information that could completely change the way you think about it.

Must also give love to the book title. Clever.

A great deal of the power of what Austerlitz has done here is present to you a film you otherwise wouldn't give a ton of credence to and then rock your socks off with in-plain-sight evidence that proves his points. When people think of ANCHORMAN, they think of a raucous, wacky comedy that appeared to have been just an extended SNL skit and assuredly a whole lot of fun to shoot; what you'll find in this read is that it's been exceedingly meticulous about how it has executed its comedy and that there was a ton going on both in front and behind of the camera.

It addresses how some of the "wrong" people have misinterpreted the film and appropriated it for their sub-par causes, along with how Ron and crew continue to inspire those out in the world that aren't as yucky.

During the several instances wherein I mentioned that I was reading this book, the response I received back was pretty standard: A "huh?" look + an immediate explanation as to why anyone would go to such lengths to prove that it's "the most iconic comedy of the 21st century". If you give Austerlitz a shot here, you'll find that he has more than enough ammo to be correct in his statement.

Finally (and maybe most importantly to me), this allows me to not only re-watch the film with renewed vigor, but now I can see it through a much different lens. I truly appreciate that.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the advance read.

It’s hard to believe but it has been 20 years since Anchorman was released. While that feels like forever ago, it’s also hard to believe that it’s only been 20 years given the influence the film has had on popular culture and society in general.

Saul Austerlitz’s exploration into the history and legacy of the film is one that will be appreciated by comedy fans and cinephiles. He gives an in-depth review of how the film came to be while also evaluating how the film would fare in today’s social climate (unsurprisingly, some bits likely wouldn’t be as well received today as they were in the early aughts).

The book also offered a brief history of broadcast journalism in the 1970s to give additional context for the film’s story. I wasn’t expecting that historical tangent but found it wildly interesting and kept putting my Kindle down to look up more details about the people and places mentioned.

If you’re a fan of film/comedy history in general, I can recommend Austerlitz’s writing enough. He does a great job of balancing between an academic and journalistic tone which makes for some easily digestible nonfiction. If Anchorman isn’t quite your jam, I also recommend his book Generation Friends, which dives into the world of the classic sitcom.

Kind of a Big Deal is out now. Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was good and it was very interesting. I was highly surprised at how much I enjoyed this.
I just reviewed Kind of a Big Deal by Saul Austerlitz. #KindofaBigDeal #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Although I love this movie so so much this book left a lot to be desired for me at least. I felt like I was reading a half thrown together research paper and half the time it wasn’t even about the movie itself. There were some fun facts that I wasn’t aware of but nothing that kept my attention. I still would recommend this for any Will Ferrell it Anchorman fans. Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Anchorman (and quoting Anchorman) was such a staple of my teen and early college years that I could not wait to read this book! This book soars when it recounts the process of making the film, the history of how it even got made, and as it highlights what a risk it was at the time. I loved all of the behind-the-scenes tidbits and really appreciated the extra look at the role costuming had in developing the characters.

This book falls short when it tries to look beyond the film and situate it in the larger landscape. It mentions the ways that many elements don't hold up (the homophobic jokes, Ben Stiller cast as a racist stereotype, etc.) but doesn't aim for any accountability or even seem to have interviewed anyone about those elements. It mentions that despite Will Ferrell's and Adam McKay's politics that Ron Burgundy is often used as a way to soften the far right but doesn't interrogate it any further. It discusses the "frat pack" movies that came after Anchorman but doesn't try to dig deeper into the impact.

Overall, I enjoyed revisiting the movie but wish it either would have only been an oral history type of piece or a deeper reflective focus through the lens of 2023. The attempted mashup of the two did not work for me.

Kind of a Big Deal by Saul Austerlitz is truly an enjoyable read!
A fun, entertaining and straight up great book!
If you are a fan of Will Ferrell you’ll most definitely find this upcoming title a joy to devour.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Dutton for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I absolutely love Anchorman, but I just could not get into this book. I'm not sure if it was the writing style or the pace of the quips and anecdotes, but I could not finish this.
However I would still strongly suggest it to anyone who is a HUGE Will Feral fan!

I’m a fan of seeing the behind the scenes construction of how movies get made, so this was totally my jam. The brilliance of making this comedy gem is told by the people making it and it’s just as much fun as the finished product!
**Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this early copy!**

Thank you to NetGalley for a preview copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. Personally, I love behind the scenes stories. I love spoilers and to learn how the sausage was made, so I found this book fascinating. We enjoy Will Ferrell and his comedy and his movies, so I found this book very entertaining.

As someone who grew up saying “stay classy” rather than goodbye and randomly telling people “I love lamp”. This book was made for me. An extremely entertaining book that gives fans of both this movie and Will Ferrell a unique insight to one of the most iconic movies of the 2000s. This book is “kind of a big deal” and will definitely leave you in “a glass case of emotions”

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC

Wildly entertaining account of our iconic 70's news spoof "Anchorman" came to be.. Definitely recommended for fans of the movie, Wil Ferrell and 90's movie classics. Stay Classy!

This was a fun little diversion. I enjoyed reading the behind-the-scenes minutiae of creating one of the greatest comedies of all time, especially the roundabout way that our hero's dog Baxter was saved from a grim fate by focus groups who did not appreciate how his original storyline ended.

I sensed the author was perhaps struggling a bit to fluff up the page count by synopsizing the films made by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and other associates. But at least he provides a contextual throughline to explain their work before and after Anchorman.

It's difficult for me to offer much more of a review for this very straightforward book. If you find Will Ferrell funny, you will absolutely laugh out loud.