Ricky Bobby: A Toda Velocidade

Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) and Cal Naughton Junior (John C Reilly) are life long friends and teammates on the NASCAR circuit. They are both the best drivers on the circuit and regularly finish first and second - this is down to their Shake and Bake method that they employ in order to take out the lead racer. Cal selflessly allows Ricky to win every time meaning that Ricky is dubbed the hero and is the one that hogs the limelight. However, their reign at the top is threatened by the arrival of ace French driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen).

Adam McKay has dabbled in satire previously with the original Anchorman film and its more recent sequel. These films were mostly successful in this respect as well as being reasonably funny. For me, McKay has been less successful when he's dabbled in other genres - his buddy cop film The Other Guys was beyond awful. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is McKay's satirical look at the sport of speedway which thankfully does work fairly well...

For me, Will Ferrell is a frustrating actor as I find that he can either be really irritating or fairly amusing. His performance very much depends on the material that he's given and the director that he works with. McKay seemed to allow Ferrell to be more natural in both Anchorman and Talladega Nights resulting in Ferrell being allowed to be funny and sort of endearing rather than being outright annoying likes he's been in other films. Sacha Baron Cohen is also excellent here in what can be described as fairly comfortable territory for him - he's essentially playing another quirky character with a ridiculous accent and most importantly entertains the audience whilst doing it. Baron Cohen plays a gay character here, but actually manages to make his character funny without being nauseating or over-the top (like he was in Bruno). Leslie Bibb plays the stock clichéd empty-headed shallow trophy-wife in such an over-the-top way that she's actually quite fun to watch. McKay's characterisation here is spot on and what they lack in depth they do make up for by just being fun to watch.

McKay takes some risks here by casting a character that's gay and actually making fun of the character for being gay but I found many of the jokes to be relatively inoffensive and many jokes here lean to being more suggestive or being used by way of double-entendre (which are arguably smarter ways to gain laughs). Ricky's foul-mouthed kids do grate a bit from time to time, but McKay does address this issue when the kids met their grandmother and she gives them some much needed discipline.

The film does lose some momentum in the second half when things start to fall apart for Ricky and we see him trying to re-build some of the remnants of his shattered life and career, but thankfully there are still plenty of amusing scenes (his dad coaching him and his scenes as a pizza delivery guy were funny and still helped to keep things moving).

All in all, Talladega nights may not keep the laughs consistently coming and at close to two hours it is a little on the long side, but despite the generous running time the film still moved along relatively smoothly and I still found plenty to enjoy here.

This movie does something that is rarely done successfully done, pokes fun at the modern NASCAR circuit. Without detailing all the gags, this is pure fun which doesn't offend the tastes too often. Will Farrell is patently absurd as Ricky Bobby & the support he receives in this film from the entire cast is excellent. Gary Cole is very solid as Ricky's dad, & so is Jane Lynch as his mom. Amy Adams is solid too. In fact, the entire cast including John C. Reilly seems to have been fit into their roles like gloves.

Sasha Cohen comes off better in this as Ricky Bobbys French nemesis than he does in even Borat. He is used perfectly & fits his role really well. The story line works really well as the evolution from speed too shake & bake too magic man & me helps keep the film focused on something besides the jokes. There is just enough plot to hang the jokes on.

The script is lots of fun with references to lots of things besides NASCAR & Sex (which is all too often the only thing done as comedy today). This film proves that outrageous is much better than sex when done right as comedy. Thank goodness this is much better than the ill conceived BETWITCHED Farrell did in 2005. This film is really an excellent showcase for everyone involved. If your a NASCAR fan, you should even get some extra fun out of this one.

Get ready for the checkered flag Ricky Booby, this film is a winner all the way.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is rather significant. Why? Because it is the first team up of Will Farrell and John C. Reily on the big screen. Released in 2006, Talladega Nights was released at a great time. Back when Will Farrell was at his height in the film industry and back when NASCAR was pretty popular. It only seemed that a movie should be made in hopes of making lots of money. And it did. Talladega Nights had a budget of $72.5 million and made back over double that amount. For the longest time I thought that Step Brothers was the better team up but since my opinion has slightly changed over that film alone, will Talladega Nights see a change in opinion?

Ricky Bobby has lived his whole life by the motto of "If you ain't first, you're last". Ricky Bobby is also a NASCAR driver and possibly the best there is. When a new race driver named Jean Girard comes to race, it seems that Ricky has met his match. A wreck occurs and Ricky is thought to be done with racing, but the Talladega race is coming around the corner, and Ricky wants to race. But most importantly, win.....

Again, for the longest time, I always saw Step Brothers as the better Reily and Ferrell film. But that has changed. I am not saying that this is leaps and bounds better than Step Brothers. I like Step Brothers and I like this film. But this film is not really a piece of art. The acting is fine. The actors feel right in their respective roles and to a point that I honestly forgot that Will Ferrell does not have a southern accent. Oscar worthy? No, considering the tough competition and what not, but still good. The characters themselves are fine too. They mostly follow the typical sterotypes which is something that some people say made NASCAR look bad. But, they all have chemistry and are loads of fun to watch. Especially Reily and Ferrell which is great that they did Step Brothers together. The story is considerably better in this film than Step Brothers as it is more complex and has an actual plot and what not. The comedy is good. Whereas Step Brothers took the really potty mouth approach, Talladega Nights is not quite as potty mouth with it's humor. Again, it is that dumb smart humor which actually works best in this film. Almost because it is a sort of satire in a way. I found myself laughing more than in Step Brothers which was the big deal about me changing my mind about how this film compares to Step Brothers. Not nearly as quotable as Step Brothers, but just the scenes by themselves are memorable.

Talladega Nights is a funny film. Some prefer Step Brothers over this film which is fine. If you are a fan of Will Ferrell and/or racing, this film should entertain you.

Will Ferrell at his best.

Seriously… Here, Ferrell plays a good ole country boy with rocks for brains and only one worry in the world and that's winning. Sound like a familiar past TV character of his? Ferrell is also a Writer on this film with Director Adam McKay, who together have made a solid comedy team since those SNL days, including 2004's "Anchor Man." But standing just as tall in this picture is the surprising man-about-town, Mr. Sasha Cohen (Borat, Ali G, Bruno) as Ricky Bobby's French nemesis, Jean Girard. This guy is such a great character actor it was difficult to even spot him at first. But who else would be brave enough to kiss Ferrell on the lips?

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One of Ferrell's stronger, fearlessly idiotic films, with the style his career is built on: comedy surrounding moronic characters doing stupid stuff.

Ricky Bobby, showcasing all the stereotypical characteristics of a redneck, is a loudmouth NASCAR driver of immense talent, who either wins or crashes trying. When a sophisticated but snooty French Formula One driver encroaches on Bobby's territory, he goes all out to stay number one.

Ferrell has a great chemistry with Reilly, a connection to be visited later in their careers. In general, it is a fairly star-studded cast, Adams thrown in with a fairly minor impact role for most of the film. Cohen is recruited to lean into a daft foreign stereotype, his speciality, but with no need for subtlety on this one, blunt jokes revolving around how the character's supposed superiority and often his homosexuality is responded to by the world of NASCAR.

Much like Anchorman and Step Brothers, the film is really ridiculous, loud and brash. Something Ferrell's fans will love, and that others would hate. Honestly though, the bloopers at the end are probably the funniest part.