Posted: 08/06/2006

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

(2006)

by Clint Fletcher

Who would’ve thought that in just two weeks time, a movie would come along to remove Clerks II from the title of Funniest Flick of the Year. Well, its happened. Talladega Nights is a fucking riot and then some.

It’s been a while since there was a movie that made me laugh out loud in every single scene (40 Year Old Virgin?) but this flick has done the deed. Everything is nearly perfect. It features a perfect cast, a perfect script a perfect director and a perfect leading man for a comedy of this caliber. I have to admit that the past couple of Ferrell flicks really rubbed me the wrong way. I was in fear that the man was losing his touch after Bewitched and Kicking and Screaming. But by God we’re back to the Old School Will Ferrell as he had the audience in stitches around every turn. Now… we all know that Ferrell is notorious for ad-libbing, and if he’s given enough rope its always possible for him to hang himself. I dug Anchorman, but felt it had too much random jokes that didn’t make much sense except to the cast and crew. Kicking and Screaming suffered from the same problem, only much worse. But praise the Lord, Will Ferrell is back to broad comedies and hopefully here to stay.

Ricky Bobby was literally born in the fast lane, or so the opening credits show us. He has a deadbeat dad that only shows up every now and then, a retarded best friend, a hot but bitchy wife, two foul-mouthed kids and a boss that hates him. To tell you the truth, this flick focuses a lot less on the racing and more on the jokes than one would expect. They really only show maybe 3 races in the entire flick, though the plot revolves around racing and Ricky Bobby getting his life back together after a horrific wreck. The good news is that Ferrell and writing partner Adam McKay (also directing) really nail it with these characters, throwing in tons of accurate, white trash pop culture ranging from Lynard Skynard to the Highlander movies. The movie oozes with hilarious one-liners such as “I wake up every morning and just piss excellence” and “If you don’t chew Big Red then f*** you.” If you don’t think this movie is funny after you see it then I’m sorry- you don’t have a soul. The scene-stealer award goes to Gary Cole as Ricky’s deadbeat dad. I was on the ground in stitches every time his character was on screen and I have a feeling that Reese Bobby will live on to be a legend among the comedy characters of this decade. Coming in close second is the great John C. Reilly as Ricky’s idiot best friend for life. Shake and Bake baby!

While the movie was hilariously entertaining in most areas, there were a couple of small down-sides. It may be just me but I found the French guy Jean Girard to be annoying as hell. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time with him but that dude just isn’t funny to me. Although I’ve never seen that actor’s show (Da Ali G Show), I’ve heard he’s pretty funny in reality so maybe it was just the way his character was written. Most of the flick holds its level of sophistication, even when dealing with ridiculous material. But they drop the ball on maturity with the French character who just got on my damn nerves. Making fun of a French stereotype is funny for a minute, then becomes really old really fast. Thankfully, we don’t see him in the flick nearly as much as the previews imply.

I can’t imagine another comedy being released this year to be funnier than this flick. It has a little something for everyone, blending all types of humor into one nice package. Even if you’re not a Ferrell fan you’ll definitely dig this comedy anyway. I can’t recommend this movie anymore strongly except to GO SEE IT!

Clint Fletcher is a filmmaker and film critic living in the Midwest.

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