Written by: Will Ferrell & Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan
Rating: [3.5/5]
In an individual sport, room at the top only belongs to one individual, leaving everyone else as losers trying to reach the zenith. Something very much ingrained in the mind of our lead character in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, where his obsession with his victory forces him to start over in a way to allow him to realize what he appreciates. All of this wrapped into an absurd story makes for a jolly good time with such a fun cast.
Gaining notoriety for his obsession with winning, Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) has built a reputation in the NASCAR community along with his best friend Cal (John C. Reilly). When a new competitor gets introduced into the league with the Frenchman Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), Ricky Bobby gets involved in a crash that completely throws him off his game causing him to spiral.
An absurdist comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly contains everything one could want in a movie meant to make audiences chuckle. The energy and ridiculousness they bring to this film, as well as many others in which they collaborate together ensures walking into any comedy they take on together will render positive results. This time this duo takes their talents into the world of NASCAR in the way it looks at this hyper-American lifestyle and the fun ways the feature seeks to satirize it.
If individuals who live outside of this country get asked to describe an American through gross stereotypes, they would mostly likely describe Ricky Bobby with his Southern accent, an obsession with individualism, and quite the fondness for unhealthy fast food. Seriously, that dinner scene shows an obscene amount of food, and the prayer they share before digging into it well and truly defines what a character we have here in Ricky Bobby. Someone perpetually thinking about how he can use anything to his advantage to get into first place. Certainly, not the most collaborative approach to maintain but when the results he has achieved sit on his resume, it becomes difficult to argue against his methods. Well, until the eventual decline arrives and he needs to build things back up.
This hilarious fall from grace shows the true nature of this character making for some fun absurdities of how he continues to get in his own way. This particular shtick of his where he acts without impunity in front of others no longer gets tolerated in the same way. When not uberly successful, it comes across as sad and not just the characteristic of a winner everyone else puts up with. Going from racing like a champ to delivering pizzas on a bicycle creates quite a humbling experience for the guy and this journey proves quite enlightening for him. It all comes as part of the necessary journey for this man.
As much as this feature delves right into Southern culture, it surely presents the opportunity for some xenophobic and homophobic attitudes to come forth with the introduction of the main villain in Girard. Trying to imagine a gay French man working as a NASCAR driver would be quite the exercise and luckily this feature presents right there for us giving Sacha Baron Cohen the opportunity to be completely unhinged in this role of being incredibly European. Almost to an absurd degree he sticks out compared to the other drivers, but definitely commands respect in the way he wipes the floor with them through his driving. This rivalry built between him and Ricky Bobby propels the feature, especially when it gets to the finale they get the opportunity to really get into it with all of the marbles on the line.
Well-crafted and wildly fun, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, brings together a bevy of fun characters to all collide with each other on this race track. On top of the aforementioned actors, this feature also employs others like Amy Adams, Jane Lynch, and Michael Clarke Duncan as they each contribute to what makes this feature work so well. While this feature does not reach the heights of other Adam McKay comedies like Anchorman or Step Brothers, this feature still has plenty to love through its ridiculous but endearing characters all wrapped up in a movie all about the shaking and the consequential baking.
Films with Josh 
