NoFace for Film

UPDATE: Those looking for quotes from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby click here.

Title: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Year: 2006
Director: Adam McKay
Starring Cast: Will Ferrell, Sacha Baron Cohen, John C. Reilly, Gary Cole
Rated: PG-13

NoFace for Film rating: 5 out of 7

What happens if Days of Thunder were turned into a comedy, and Tom Cruise was replaced by Will Ferrell? The result may be something like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Ricky Bobby is a champion NASCAR race car driver who has the perfect life. He wins every race he competes in; he has a smoking hot wife and two smartass kids who all worship him. He makes tons of money from all his endorsements, and his best friend, fellow race car driver Cal, (Reilly) is always there for him, helping him win every race. Structuring his whole life on his wayward, deadbeat father’s (Cole) parting words that “If you ain’t first, you’re last,” Ricky’s perfect world comes crashing down when a snooty French Formula One driver (Cohen) usurps Ricky’s 1st place position on the NASCAR throne. Will he be able to reclaim his former glory?

Now, I don’t know anything about NASCAR and am not particularly a fan of car races and such, but I LOVED this movie. It does a great job in providing lots of laughs while maintaining a clear view of the plot. It’s not just funny scene after funny scene while throwing in bits of the story every now and then. No, Talladega Nights ties in everything wonderfully and is a nice, cohesive movie. Yes, the plot is rather formulaic (A champion is force fed humble pie and struggles to get back on his feet) and is rather similar to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy. This isn’t too surprising since both star Ferrell and are directed by the same guy. Regardless of the simplicity and predictability of the plot, it is well executed.

As a comedy, Talladega Nights is hysterical and brilliant. The entire audience was laughing the entire time. One thing I love about a good comedy are the quotable lines, and Talladega Nights has tons of them. In fact when the movie had finished and we were filing out of the theatre, I was quoting one of the lines when a woman in front of me started laughing. I realized then that this is going to be one of those movies where people can quote the movie back and forth to each other (i.e., Clerks ) to generate laughs from each other. And although a few jokes (i.e., the “baby Jesus” dinner table scene) went for a bit too long, overall it was great. Another thing I loved about Talladega Nights is that, similar to Anchorman, many of the lines were ad-libbed, as shown in the bloopers during the credits. I love that kind of shit.

As for the actors, one thing I’ve noticed about Will Ferrell movies is that, while Ferrell himself is pretty funny, he is at his best when he’s surrounded by a talented cast. In Anchorman, Ferrell worked wonderfully with guys like Steve Carell and Paul Rudd; in Talladega Nights he created a lot of comedy genius with Cole, Cohen, and Reilly. As someone usually in more serious movies, it’s surprising to see how funny John C. Reilly can be. Meanwhile, Gary Cole stole every scene he was in. I remembered how great his small role was in Office Space and feel that he was perfect in this movie. Cohen was terrific as Jean Girard, the French race car driver. I don’t have cable and have never seen Cohen’s Da Ali G Show, but from what I saw from him in Talladega Nights, he is one funny guy. Some people may be offended at Barton’s stereotype-laden portrayal of Girard, but then again the whole movie stereotypes the NASCAR community as a bunch of dim-witted, redneck, homophobic, trailer trash, so it evens out in a way.

The only actors I was disappointed in were Greg Hermann and Molly Shannon. Hermann, who I loved from Ally McBeal as sleazy lawyer Richard Fish, was not at all funny in his role as Larry Dennit Jr., Ricky’s team owner. He was rather boring. Granted, his character was the “bad guy” and not really supposed to be funny, but it seemed like a waste for Hermann not to exercise his funny bone. And Shannon (one of Ferrell’s fellow Saturday Night Live alums) was stupid as Dennit’s eternally drunk wife. She overacted the hell out of her small and simple role. Then again, I’ve always thought that Shannon constantly overacted in SNL. In Talladega Nights, every scene with the two of them was yawn inducing and ridiculous; mercifully those scenes were very few and short.

Even if you’re not a NASCAR fan, I highly recommend Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. I assure you that you’ll be leaving the theatre quoting the movie the whole way home.

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