Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby Review

"Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby" reviews

Movie

Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-04-02 21:27:39

Rating

3/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Whereas Will Ferrell & Co.'s Anchorman only seems to click on way-past-your-bedtime HBO, Talladega Nights clicks on most cylinders, and the star shows why he's mainstream comedy's best hope to bring in the money and the funny.

Story

Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) has been hotdoggin' since the day he was born--when, legend has it, his momma (Jane Lynch) popped him out of her belly in the back seat of a car. Now grown up and living his dream as a NASCAR driver, he takes his swagger out onto the tracks, with mixed results. Even though he and lifelong friend Cal (John C. Reilly) usually end up in first and second place, respectively, his owner deems him a financial liability after he finishes a race in reverse. Consequently, a prim, proper and gay French F-1 driver (Da Ali G Show's Sacha Baron Cohen) is recruited as a new investment, and Ricky gets in a horrific crash trying to beat him, winding up paralyzed…in his mind. After a long road back--which sees Cal steal Ricky's lady (Leslie Bibb) and limelight and Ricky reunite with his estranged racer dad (Gary Cole)--Ricky learns to leave showmanship, homophobia and pyrophobia (fear of fire) in his dust, and just drive the damn car!

Acting

Ah...Will Ferrell in his total element--it's a beautiful thing and one we haven't much seen since SNL. Until now. In Talladega, Ferrell brings his energy, satire and out-of-the-blue pop-culture references to new highs in his best post-SNL performance yet. And if you close your eyes and listen to Ferrell's faux South-speak, you can hear his great George Dubya send-up of yore. Matching Ferrell scene for scene--in quality, not quantity--is Reilly. With his role as a tractable doofus with a good heart, Reilly has now completed the whole spectrum of roles and can be unequivocally branded an acting chameleon. Oddly, he seems best fit a tractable doofus, but that's merely a testament to his abilities. Cohen's biggest mainstream role to date is also a hit, as he applies equal parts Ali G's Borat and hyperbolic French stereotype for often hilarious results. And Amy Adams stars as Ricky's neglected assistant; it's a role so small that she must've signed on before Junebug took her to the Oscars.

Direction

If, after his hit '70s San Diego news show, Ron Burgundy were to have done something to necessitate placement in a witness protection program, it's not inconceivable that he could've relocated to the South, found his true calling as a pompous NASCAR driver and taken the fake-sounding name Ricky Bobby. That's no coincidence: Talladega, like Anchorman, is written by Ferrell and Adam McKay, who also directed. But the two have filled in the blanks from their previous collaboration for a more well-rounded effort. The duo best complement one another when it comes to Ferrell's sense of humor; it is, at its core, drier than most care to realize, but the co-writers manage to moisten it in such a way for all to thoroughly enjoy. What really separates this film from its predecessor, though, is the action--the racing scenes will surprise! And to that end, McKay uses the NASCAR angle to reel in its massive contingency as well as Ferrell/comedy fans, all of whom should go home happy.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.

Copyright © CinemaSource 2007.

Movie

Talladega Nights - The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-09-14 00:00:00

Provider

MyMovies

Review

Will Ferrell puts the pedal to the metal in this petrol-head comedy about a true legend behind the wheel .As a child young Ricky Bobby always wanted to "go fast". So it should come as no surprise that the good ol' southerner ended up as the best NASCAR driver in the game. However when a cocky new French racer (Sacha Baron Cohen) enters the pits, Ricky's life blows a gasket and soon he's lost his nerve, his job and his wife (Leslie Bibb) to his best friend (John C. Reilly). Can the man for whom coming first is everything get back behind the wheel and regain his rightful place on the top of the podium or has his life hit the skids permanently?

Will Ferrell is emerging as a bit of an enigma. Best known for some truly inspired comedy - his "Saturday Night Live" shows are stuff of legend - Will has also proved that he can act too in movies such as "Melinda & Melinda". And while some of his big screen comedies can be wildly funny ("Anchorman"), others can miss the mark totally ("Kicking & Screaming"). Fortunately "Talladega Nights" falls into the former category.

Given free reign to improvise as much as he wants, Ferrell's free-styling banter is inspired while some scenes - such as him 'facing the fear' thanks to a cougar sat next to him in the car - will have you wiping away the tears. And it wouldn't be a proper Will Ferrell film if we didn't see him running around in just his pants at least once- and he doesn't disappoint. Cohen and Reilly provide ample support and just about manage to keep up with Will when required. In short, Ferrell fans are in for a treat as Ricky Bobby easily takes the chequered flag.

Copyright © MyMovies 2006.

Movie

Talladega Nights

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-09-08 15:01:02

Provider

MRIB

Review

No one, with the possible exception of Jack Black, can play morons quite like Will Ferrell.

Here he is as Ricky Bobby, a good ol' boy conceived in a steakhouse toilet who has but one ambition: to go fast. This he gets from his ne'er-do-well dad, Reese Bobby (the hilarious Gary Cole), who only ever visited him once during his schooldays and left him with one throwaway comment ringing in his ears: 'If you ain't first, you're last.'

Ricky strikes up a friendship with Cal (John C Reilly) and together they join a pit crew for a racing team headed by Michael Clarke Duncan. When a driver abandons his car to eat lunch and make a phone call, Ricky steps in to cover and, incredibly, becomes a phenomenon, winning race after race and a trophy wife, Carley (Leslie Bibb).

All is good until Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), a Formula One driver, enters the picture. Not only is Girard a Frenchman who likes jazz and whose car is sponsored by Perrier (Ricky's sponsor is Wonder Bread), but he is gay and married to the macho Gregory (Andy Richter), all of which is too much for Ricky to take. Worse, his career nose-dives after he has a crash, leaving Girard to dominate the sport while Ricky ends up delivering pizzas and living with his mum.

Undemanding but as funny as its top-notch cast suggests (Cal and Ricky Bobby are a particularly fine double-act), Talladega Nights is, if you'll pardon the pun, a gas.

Copyright © MRIB 2006.