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Product Description: A top race car driver loses his title in a challenge, along with his wife and fortune, and must overcome his fears to regain his title.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: UN
Release Date: 4-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVDAmazon.com: Sweet baby Jesus, we thank you for blessing Will Ferrell and Adam McKay with the talent to create a NASCAR comedy as hilarious as Talladega Nights. The so-called "Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is hardly flawless in fact it's not always firing on all cylinders but with comedy star Ferrell and director McKay still hot from the success of their previous comedy hit Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, most of this 108-minute spoof of oval-track racing is so knee-slappin' funny that you can't help but surrender to the stupidity.  |
Obviously, Ferrell's the shining star, and his portrayal of lead-footed pit-crew-member-turned-#1 NASCAR champion Ricky "I Wanna Go Fast" Bobby (how can you not love that name?) is spot-on perfect, righteously spoofing the entirety of NASCAR culture without insulting its oft-ridiculed roots in redneck bootlegging of a bygone era. You could even argue that Talladega Nights is truer to NASCAR than Tom Cruise's Days of Thunder, and it's certainly more entertaining, especially when you add John C. Reilly as Ricky's life-long pal, teammate, and eventual rival Cal Naughton, Jr. (together they're nicknamed "Shake 'n Bake"), and Sacha Baron Cohen (from Da Ali G Show and Borat) as gay French "Formula Un" driver-turned NASCAR rival Jean Girrard, to a stellar cast including Molly Shannon, Greg Germann, Amy Adams and Michael Clarke Duncan. Sure, it's mostly a showcase for Ferrell's loud, over-the-top antics and nonsensical non sequiturs (like cameo appearances by Elvis Costello and Mos Def), but with Ferrell behind the wheel, Talladega Nights rolls into victory lane with fuel to spare, and there's one final bit of comedy (with a tip of the hat to William Faulkner) for those who sit through the credits. --Jeff Shannon Stills from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby(click for larger image) More NASCAR and Talladega Nights at Amazon.com 
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Customer Reviews:
- WOW what a bad movie!: So bad that I couldn't wait to eject it. I think I suffered through a half hour before giving up.
I tried. I did. But not once did I even crack a smile. Not even remotely funny.
Shake 'n bake. Ha ha. - Hilarious movie!!!!: I loved this movie! I think this is Will Farrell at his best! It's so amazingly hilarious! I definitely recommend it for major laughs!
- Will Ferrel is Hilarious. : If your a race car fan and a Will Ferrel fan your going to love this movie. This mvie is a tale of a backwoods kid who grows up to be a race car driver. His alcoholic father who is played by Gary Cole, plays a crucial role in his earlier years by telling him on a career day "If your not first your last." As far as Sascha Cohen, he is all the foreign stereo-type drivers roled into one. It is a great comedy team(Will Ferrel and Sascha Cohen). I would recommend this film to any Nascar fan, or a fan of either of the 2 big actors.
- Hilarious juvenile humor: I'm not a fan of Will Farrel, and I don't watch Nascar, but I just love this movie. I've watched it multiple times, and I always laugh out loud throughout. Warning, though. The humor gets pretty raunchy at times.
- This flic needs some juice!: Should have known from all the hype with the commercials at the time this came out that it wasn't a strong production. Unrated? Suitable for anyone 5 years and up if you'd ask me. Ferrell has his comedic moments, sure, he's a great actor. This is more of a dramatic comedy (you know just as well as I do that it's really hard to combine drama and comedy) and the director just doesn't get the job done. Cohen could have been a much stronger, more dramatic character (no pun intended here); I wish they would have cast someone who could pull it off in the role of the arch nemesis. Character development, Ricky's motivations, it's just not as well developed as it should have been to compensate for the lack of comedic tone. Ferrell actually does a commendable job in the dramatic moments - there are many for sure - and I give him credit for that. But after his father puts him back on track for Nascar glory you'd expect a completely off the charts finish. The script disappoints big time with a weak attempt at being funny one last time and have the characters walk to the finish line of the final, Talladega race (disqualifying them both) and having Ricky's long-time best friend finally win it (even though he crashed his car together with - aren't we all surprised - the rest of the pack. For a classic Will Ferrell, well put together story line I would look elsewhere (just look up Will Ferrell's name and take your pick).
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