Sony Pictures Entertainment Starring: Will Ferrell, Sacha Baron Cohen
Directed By: Adam McKay
Rated: PG-13
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Okay. So, I saw the previews of Talladega Nights, and I laughed. Of course I did. The previews were funny (if a bit silly). But previews of movies like this are often rather funny. Will Ferrell movies in particular have often (in my opinion) failed to live up to the level of funny established by the previews. Take Old School, for example...
And then there was the fact that it was a NASCAR movie. Yes, I live in the south, but I am not from the south, so I freely admit that I totally don't see the attraction of watching a bunch of people driving around an oval track turning left for 500 miles. The fun totally escapes me.
So, I wrote this one off. I figured I'd see it on DVD...if I saw it at all.
Then, my friend Mark pointed out that the movie wasn't about NASCAR. It was making fun of NASCAR.
Now there's a theme I can get into!
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is way funnier than the previews lead you to believe, and that's a rare thing. It stars Ferrell as the title character. Ricky was born to go fast. When he grows up and lands himself a place on a NASCAR pit crew, he's pretty much on top of the world--that is, until the driver for his team loses interest in driving in the middle of a race, and Ricky hops in the car to take over. Once he's out on the track, he never looks back again. He shoots straight up to number 1, and nobody can beat him--that is, until a French Formula 1 driver named Jean Girard (Cohen) enters the scene and sets out specifically to replace Ricky as NASCAR's top driver. Ricky must regain his confidence in his skills as a driver in order to face this foreign nemesis.
As a satire, Talladega Nights often borders on brilliance. It manages to play things pretty straight as far as the perceived attitude toward NASCAR--straight enough at any rate that it will probably fool the typical NASCAR fan into believing that their sport is not being made fun of. But it is, oh, it is. For example, Girard is such an accomplished driver in Formula 1 that NASCAR is extremely easy for him--so much so, that he wins race after race driving with one hand while reading highbrow literature and drinking espressos. Of course, where as the pokes at the "sport" itself are relatively subtle, the pokes at the culture of the drivers and the fans are merciless. Take Girard--he's French (which still provokes ire in the conservatives in and of itself). He's also openly gay, and married to his partner (Andy Richter). (The sequence where the NASCAR television announcers do a behind-the-scenes report on the new driving sensation when Girard first enters the scene is priceless. The looks on the announcers' faces is worth the price of admission.) The drivers themselves, especially Ricky and his best friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), are portrayed as rich, dumb, and almost totally without taste. When asked to name something that American culture has contributed to the world, Cal and Ricky manage to come up with Chinese food and pizza.
The script is absolutely brilliant. The cast, which is wonderful across the board, is given some really fine material to work with. Listen closely to the lines--there are some really funny non-sequitor things that are thrown in that make no sense whatsoever but are absolutely hilarious. And every time Girard says Ricky Bobby's name in his horrible Inspector Clouseau-style French accent ('Wikki Bubby") you can't help but laugh.
I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with this film. It's witty, and fun, and well-worth the price of admission.
Bottom line: Surprisingly hilarious.