Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

**½
USA

The all-American funnyman, hot babes, NASCAR and the Jew-pretending-to-be-French funnyman.

The Gist

Will Ferrell was born when his daddy hit the emergency brakes in a car. As a result, he always wanted to go fast. Hitting adulthood, Ferrell accidentally stumbles into the chance of being a NASCAR racer and he excels at it, living solely on his father’s words of wisdom “If you ain’t first, you’re last”. Being famous means disciplinary concerns are pushed aside which ultimately pisses of his manager, who in turn hires a comedian from Britain, sorry, a racer played by Sacha Baron Cohen from France to beat him in a race.

What Do I Think?

Finally, a mainstream film starring Will Ferrell as the lead gets released in Malaysia! After totally loving his characters in Elf and Anchorman, I knew I had to watch this by hook or by crook. Ferrell possesses this child-like character, naturally armed with onscreen aggressiveness, which sometimes serve as the charm of the whole outing. This naivety is easy to generate but only a few can master at it. Ferrell fits into the shoes of this persona nicely and rightly. That is why I love him.

In TN, Ferrell’s character’s IQ is slightly higher than his previous films which could be quite dangerous if not handled carefully. Thankfully, Ferrell manages to pull it off, squeezing the appropriate dumb antics whenever necessary. His best friend John C Reilly does quite a good job as the supporting actor. The female leads Amy Adams and Leslie Bibbs appear more than just eye candy with some decent acting to boost.

Fully sponsored by NASCAR, there are some excellent choreographed racecar scenes to watch out for. Somewhat a bonus to have a whacky comedy! Fast cars means you need fast rock music to go with and yep, they have them too.

What I have mentioned is just 10% of the movie’s goodness. The other 90% is totally owned by Mr Sacha Baron Cohen, the man you all know as Ali G, Borat and to some, Bruno. Here, he steals the show almost entirely by playing a French NASCAR driver who happens to be gay.

His fake accent is hilarious, with every single word he speaks. He manages to bring the humor almost similar to Ferrell’s, naivety with some of the trademark flavors of his Ali G and Borat personas. Which is of course a treat for all his fans alike. I’m not entirely sure if his script was improvised by himself but it seems like it. And it effectively works to many high levels of degree.

It is not always that a film can make me laugh but there is quite number of scenes which can tear me up to hysterics. My favorite scene is where Ferrell and Cohen argues face to face. They both shout at each other at the same time, stopping at the same time and then start again at the same time. To finish off, Cohen offers peace by asking Ferrell to give him a kiss. Ferrell declines and Cohen rubs his nose against his. A real classic.

Cohen was also a show stealer in Madagascar. He is effective as supporting actor. Being a lead actor is another story altogether as his debut outing Ali G In Da House was a total disaster. Let’s hope his upcoming Borat is better.

Sorry, got carried away. I’m supposed to review TN. Hey, it’s a good and entertaining movie. Go watch it.

Rating: 8/10
I was expecting more from Ferrell after the brilliant Anchorman. Never mind, there is always Cohen to save the day.

Notes:
Adam McKay, the director has a cameo as the NASCAR driver in the opening scene, who goes out for a meal at the pit stop.

Last updated: 2009-08-12 01:02:44 by joekhor

The last few Will Ferrell movies I’ve seen just haven’t left my sides hurting the way I expect his films to do, but Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby had my sides splitting.
I’m no fan of car racing, but a good comedy is a comedy, and that’s what this is. The racing isn’t top priority, although it is a major part of the film.
With brilliant comedic actors such as Will Ferrell, John C. Reily, Sacha Baron Cohen, and a nearly unrecognizable Jane Lynch, this film was destined for greatness.
Someone once asked Ferrell why he felt the need to get naked in all of his films. I’m beginning to wonder that myself. Besides the fact that he doesn’t have the best of physiques (as if I have room to talk), these random underwear/nude scenes don’t really move the film along.
The chemistry between Ferrel and Reily is on par with some of the greats. I really felt like they were best friends since grade school
Whenever you have a sports film, there has to be a bit of eye candy. In this picture, we have Leslie Bibb, and to a lesser extent, Amy Adams. Bibb is the token blonde hottie, and Adams is te girl next door that gets the guy in the end. Nothing fancy about there roles.
There are a handful of cameos in the film, mostly from NASCAR personalities, but also be on the lookout for Mos Def and Elvis Costello.
There really isn’t much to say about this film in an negative tone, except for this random, weird turn it takes when Sacha Baron Cohen, as Jena Girard, appears and announces he’s gay. As you can imagine, this doesn’t bode well in the ultra conservative circles of car racing, and though they make light of the situation, it still seems a bit odd and uncomfortable. At least until film’s end, when they do something big and shocking.
I’m not quite sure why this is called Talladega Nights, since all the races are during the day, but I’m sure they have their reasons. If you’re familiar with Will Ferrell’s work, then you know what to expect out of this film. Don’t watch this expecting to see a NASCAR documentary or some sort of epic racing film. This film is not about that, but rather a satire on the whole racing community. It is definitely good for a watching, especially if you need some laughs.

http://thankyounetflix.wordpress.com