Mediocre American Man Trilogy
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| Mediocre American Man Trilogy | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Adam McKay |
| Written by | Will Ferrell Adam McKay |
| Produced by | Judd Apatow |
| Starring | Will Ferrell David Koechner |
Release date | 2004 – present |
Running time | 202 minutes (as of 2007) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $233 million (as of 2007) |
The Mediocre American Man Trilogy (also known as "The Colon Trilogy") is a trilogy of three completely different comedy films. Former SNL cast member Will Ferrell has named three films that he has and will take part in as this trilogy. The first part of the trilogy was Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and the second was Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006).
Films
| Title | Release date | Budget | Total domestic box office |
Total admissions |
Inflation adjusted total domestic box office |
Total worldwide box office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy | July 9, 2004 | $26,000,000[1] | $85,288,303[1] | 13.7 million | $92,700,000 | $90,574,188[1] |
| Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | August 4, 2006 | $72,500,000[2] | $148,213,377[2] | 22.5 million | $151,875,000 | $162,966,177[2] |
Plots
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy tells the story of San Diego's top-rated anchorman Ron Burgundy. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Ron is willing to play along at first-as long as Veronica stays in her place, covering cat fashion shows, cooking, and other "female" interests. But when Veronica refuses to settle for being eye candy and steps behind the news desk, it's more than a battle between two perfectly coiffed anchor-persons. It's war.
| Actor/actress | Role |
|---|---|
| Will Ferrell | Ron Burgundy |
| Christina Applegate | Veronica Corningstone |
| Paul Rudd | Brian Fantana |
| Steve Carrell | Brick Tamland |
| David Koechner | Champion 'Champ' Kind |
| Fred Willard | Ed Harken |
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tells the story of a NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo—dubbed "Shake 'N' Bake" with the ability to finish most races in first and second place, with Cal always in second. When a homosexual French F1 driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges "Shake 'N' Bake" for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky must face his own demons and fight Girard for the right to be known as NASCAR's top driver.
| Actor/actress | Role |
|---|---|
| Will Ferrell | Ricky Bobby |
| John C. Reilly | Cal Naughton Jr. |
| Sacha Baron Cohen | Jean Girard |
| Michael Clarke Duncan | Lucius Washington |
| Leslie Bibb | Carley Bobby |
| Amy Adams | Susan |
| Gary Cole | Reese Bobby |
| Jane Lynch | Lucy Bobby |
Similarities between the films
There are certain people and characteristics that seem to recur throughout the Mediocre American Man trilogy, which will most likely recur in the third and final film as well.
- In both parts of the trilogy Will Ferrell plays characters with the initials R.B.
- Will Ferrell's characters (both Ron Burgundy and Ricky Bobby) know a lot about their profession, but not much about anything else.
- The titles always follow the format of "(Main Title): The _______ of (Ferrell's Character's Name)," a reference to Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy.[citation needed]
- In both films Will Ferrell's character has a considerable fall from grace, from being top of his profession, to being a regular average joe.
- The climax scenes are always unusual and over-the-top.
- Both make a reference to organ transplants to promote longevity (In a deleted scene of Anchorman, Ron is taking his dog Baxter to get "monkey lungs" so that he can "live to be a hundred"; and in Talladega Nights, Ricky talks to Lucius about how he believes that with his wealth and medical advancements, he can live to be 245-300.)
- There is at least one key point that features a wild animal, bears in Anchorman and a cougar in Talladega Nights.
- They all make references to how much the characters like fondue or melted cheese.
- In both movies, Ferrell's characters have bad foreign language skills.
- They are directed by Adam McKay.
- They are written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
- They feature a comical opening title card.
- They feature cameo roles by Adam McKay.
- They are produced by Judd Apatow.
- They feature David Koechner as a friend and co-worker of Will Ferrell's character.
- They feature alternate lines and some outtakes during the credits. They also show what appears to be a small deleted scene after the credits.
- At some point during each film, Will Ferrell's character kisses or is kissed by his nemesis.
- Steve Carell appeared in Anchorman, and was considered to be cast in the Talladega Nights, but declined due to other matters (Evan Almighty and/or The Office)
- In both movies, Ferrell's character makes out with his wife in front of his kids (Alternate scene in Anchorman.)
- In both movies, Ferrell's character refers to someone as a "dickweed".
External links
References
- ^ a b c "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
- ^ a b c "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-03-05.