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| Cast and Credits |
| Cast: |
Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sascha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Jane Lynch |
| Director: |
Adam McKay |
| Writer: |
Will Ferrell, Adam McKay |
| Rating: |
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence. |
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Reviewed By: Brendan Cullin
Rating: 6/10
In "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby", Will Ferrell stars as the said balladeer. Ricky is a NASCAR driver who has grown up knowing only one thing - he wants to go fast - right from the moment he was born in the backseat of his daddy's car. And with his best friend, fellow driver and the second half of "Shake and Bake", Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly) at his side, he does just that and grows into the number one NASCAR racer in the world. That is until he meets his match - Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohan aka Ali G) a gay Formula One racer who moves over to NASCAR to kick Ricky's ass and probably do other things to his boyfriend's (played by Andy Richter). But after a tragic accident, Ricky becomes terrified of getting behind the wheel and he has to turn to his deadbeat father to help him gain the form that made him into a world champion race car driver. Of course, before this happens, he loses his house, his wife, his job, he has to deliver pizzas on a bike, drive a car with a cougar and escape from the police because his dad has taped a bag of cocaine to the bottom of his car. Funny stuff.
People who have followed my rather humble movie reviewing career will probably know that I have never been a big fan of Will Ferrell. I took a lot of flack for slamming "Old School" back in 2003 and I'm not sure if he's done too much since then to really change my opinion of his comedy, although surprisingly enough, he did impress me in Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda" (who is ironically one of my least favourite directors). Well, after seeing "Talladega Nights", I can report that I still am not a big Will Ferrell fan. I'm sure Will will be devastated to hear this. But I am starting to sort of warm up to him in a non-homosexual kind of way. Talladega does have its moments, that I will admit. I laughed at a handful of scenes in the movie, but not all involving Mr. Ferrell. I found the supporting cast to be the stars of this movie. Gary Cole, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon and Sacha Cohen were the real stars of "Talladega". Ferrell was okay, I just don't always get his humour. He's pretty much a hit aa much as he is a miss in this movie so he's not a total wash.
So saying that, I will give "Talladega Nights" a slight recommendation, just based on the fact that the movie is genuinely funny on a handful of occasions. There's not much more of a detailed analysis you can give for a movie like this. It's supposed to make you laugh and that's it, that's all. In this respect, it is relatively successful. And for all you Will Ferrell fans out there - if you are entertained by him yelling incoherently, screaming out for Tom Cruise, blurting out sentences that don't make a lot of sense, running around in his white underwear and showing off what might be the worst body on a leading man in the whole of Hollywood, well, then I am sure you will love "Talladega Nights". It's not a complete write-off and as I said, it's got some genuine laughs. It may not compare to a couple of 2005 hits like "Wedding Crashers" or "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" but compared to "Old School", "Talladega Nights" is Oscar-worthy material.
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