Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

In Talladega Nights, Will Farrell and Jon C. Reilly head a nicely assembled cast (without a lot of star power) in a story about a fool who happens to be a race car driver and who has based his entire life philosophy around a phrase uttered by his alcoholic father during a drunk - "If you ain't first, you're last". Ricky Bobby rides high in his largely unexamined life until, predictably, he eventually crashes hard when confronted with a gay French intellectual who just might be a better driver than he is, and a boss who does not appreciate his arrogance.

Talladega Nights uses a narrative and editing style reminiscent of the brilliant Deathrace 2000 to create an entirely different effect - unlike Deathrace 2000's intellectually challenging political and social commentary, Talladega Nights is a simple absurdist comedy played out by several stereotypes in the contemporary racing entertainment industry. The film is successful largely because of it's careful plotting and occasional substitution of slap-stick for (dumb) dialogue driven comedy. The script is nothing special, but was probably well edited in the final construction of the film in order to emphasize its occasional moments of brilliance. If you go into this without much in the way of expectations, you just might enjoy it.

Fmovies: Two summers ago, Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay teamed up for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the best display of improvisational comedy on screen since Christopher Guest (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) entered the scene. This summer, the pair re-teamed for a sort of quasi-sequel as evidenced by the colon and "The Legend of" in the title. Will Ferrell stars as moderately dim-witted race car driver Ricky Bobby who differs from Anchorman's protagonist Ron Burgundy in that he is a more fully-fleshed out character. His need for speed on the track is guided by a void left by his race car driving dad's (Gary Cole's) abandonment. Along for the ride is the ever-so-versatile John C. Riley as perennial sidekick Cal Naughton Jr. who literally finishes second to him in every race. He suggests to his buddy maybe, just once, he can let him win just once to which Ricky Bobby replies, "Well I see where you're coming from but if you win, how am I gonna win."

Talladega is more likable to its subject than a strict satire, because it firmly implants itself in the Nascar world and picks on its more absurd elements. In particular, the heavy emphasis on sponsorship in NASCAR takes a heavy beating with things like Ricky Bobby being contractually obligated to include Powerade in his grace. The ensemble of characters doesn't produce that same energy that Anchorman had, but Talladega Nights did have some priceless bits of humor and it works just as well, perhaps even better, as a feel-good movie.

Ricky Bobby grows up to become a big-time race car driver. With the conflict of having no father to raise him, life was not always easy. And now, as an adult, he is finally ready to meet his match: a French driver from the Formula Un series. Can Ricky make him surrender? Shake and bake! I really don't want to like this film, because I think Will Ferrell is past his prime already and on his way out. The bigger a role he receives, the less likely he is to make a good movie, because he is just such a dumb actor. Popping in for a brief time ("Wedding Crashers") is alright, but a full movie ("Elf")? I don't know. Yet, he took the whole film here and ran with it.

The help came from John C. Reilly, who was fantastic as Cal Naughton, Jr. While he is not the usual co-star of Ferrell (such as Vince Vaughn, or one of the Wilson brothers) he was a dominant force. Seeing some new faces was very good, although having "Crash" from "Anchorman" was a nice touch, as I would consider "Anchorman" to be Ferrell's best film.

Stealing the show was Sacha Baron Cohen as Jean Girard. I did not even recognize him until the movie was almost over. Cohen is a master of disguise ("Alig G", "Borat", "Bruno") and I would say this was his best performance yet. All the French references were great (Albert Camus, Perrier, crepes) and this character was so much more than just a simple parody of French culture. Why he was hanging out with Elvis Costello and Mos Def is unknown to me.

This film has the comedy that other films by these creators have, with constant pop culture references that pay off if you get it. And heck, if you don't, there's a good amount of really stupid humor, too (such as the imaginary fire). My favorite scene might be where they try to figure out how to pry out a knife from a man's leg.

If you want a cheese fountain at your wedding with nachos and seven different kinds of cheese, you need to see this movie.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby fmovies. When looking at the merits of a movie and decide whether it is good or not, one must think of the goal of the picture. Is it a serious film, designed to comment on society, or is the movie's job to merely entertain? I think we all know the answer to this one when it comes to Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This movie's goal is to entertain the audience, make them laugh, make them spend an hour and a half rejoicing in talented comedians doing their job well. And this movie reached its goal. Not only is this movie an above-average sports movie (it even concludes with a big race and a warm and fuzzy winner!), but is also a very funny movie. All I had to do was listen to the reaction of the sold out theater I was in and I knew that most people will find this movie to be very funny. Will Ferrell is Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR driver who makes up one half of "Shake and Bake," with John C. Reilly's Cal Naughton, Jr. being the "Bake" half of the duo. They are childhood friends who have now become teammates on the top NASCAR level, where Cal sets up the play that lets Ricky win almost every race--that is, unless Ricky has already crashed out of it. Talladega Nights follows the same story arc that Days of Thunder did, but is far more entertaining, as Ferrell and Reilly work together to bring humor to all parts of the racer's lives, including a bizarre dinner ritual that includes corporate sponsorship. Sure, the movie slows down for about 20 minutes in the middle to develop plot, but that may have been designed to give us, the audience, a break, allowing us to get ready for the final scenes of the movie. Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G, Borat) plays the French Formula 1 driver who threatens to oust Ricky Bobby as the best driver on the track, perhaps the funniest overall character in the movie. There is not one scene with Cohen in it that isn't funny. After watching this movie, it is clear why Will Ferrell takes his comedies so seriously (watch the extras on the Elf DVD to see Ferrell between scenes, he's not always "on" playing the clown on set)--he gets the results he's looking for. This movie is laugh-out-loud funny pretty much from start to finish, and seeing Gary Cole return to comedy as Ricky Bobby's father will bring back memories of Office Space for a moment, then this new character will win you over.

You still get plenty of fast paced action, muscle cars, and massive car crashes. You just get to laugh a lot too.

Will Ferrell really doesn't get enough credit for his acting. As mindless as it seems, he still manages to make it believable. You have to keep in mind it's usually during over-the-top parodies, so it's supposed to be carefree and with complete disdain, yet he still manages to make it intelligent most of the time (at least in this film), so the result is far more than simple fart and gross-out type jokes.

He also had the benefit of writing this film, cast members like John C. Reilly and Sasha Baron Cohen, and a focus for the film in deep need of parody. NASCAR has been long overdue.

I liked this movie a LOT. I think it's annoying how people come on here and whine and cry about poking fun at things...boo hoo he joked about boobs or gay people or Jesus or whatever...every single comment I read was someone who didn't like it because it offended them. It's a comedy, grow up!! Of course it's going to make fun of things, what else would make it funny? I thought that this movie was HILARIOUS, I am a very big fan of Will Ferrell I can't think of one movie I seen with him in it that I didn't like! So please, if you're that easily offended, next time you wanna rent a movie, for all out sakes, DON'T pick up a comedy. GEEZ!