Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

LilPickle — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 06:29:54 +0000

Kick the tires and light the fires! It’s time for speed!

Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, we thank you for Will Ferrell, the nasty, sexy-hot sport of NASCAR, and Walker Texas Ranger (or T.R. as we like to call him). Please bless this review and thanks for making America the most kick-ass nation on the planet. Oh and due to contractual obligations during grace, I’d also like to pray for Powerade and a successful release of their new flavor. Amen.

…Yeah right, like our reviews have ever been graced by anything other than an insult from our readers.

Momma, I’m going fast!

Ricky Bobby, the man who could only count to one, not only was born for speed but he was born at a hundred miles an hour in the back of a Chevelle. At the age of ten, his weed smoking vagrant father shows up for career day out of nowhere and gives Ricky the idea that, “If you aren’t first, you’re last.” This inspires Ricky and his best bud Cal to be race car drivers, but they don’t wind up exactly where they hoped. Being in the pit crew for the NASCAR team in dead last, Ricky is suddenly given the chance to shine as a driver and shocks everyone with a win. In an instant, their lives are turned around by fame and money, and soon Ricky and Cal are the top drivers in NASCAR. Ricky in his fame marries the sizzling-hot (Ow!) and gold-digging Carley, and they have two incredibly f*cked up kids: Walker and Texas Ranger. But because his #1 attitude and arrogance loses points for the team, the owner, Larry Dennit Jr., brings on the gay French “Formule Un” champion Jean Girard to win championships. Ricky, frustrated by being beaten off-track by the Frenchman, takes matters into his own hands during a race but ends up in a spectacular crash that leaves Ricky psychosomatic and traumatized. And to make things worse, his lifelong buddy Cal has stolen his job, wife, and home. But the broken and ruined Ricky Bobby realizes with help from his mother and returned father that he shouldn’t give up that easily. For the rest of the movie, Ricky learns the true meaning of being a family and rediscovers who he is–and Ricky Bobby is not a thinker, Ricky Bobby is a driver!

Psychosomatic? So what… he can start fires with his mind powers?

It’s been quite a while since I’ve personally seen a Will Ferrell flick on the silver screens; since Old School in fact. But if you’ve seen one of his movies, you can pretty much tell what kind of character he plays in any of them. I think it’s impossible for Will Ferrell to not play the buffoon. But thankfully for this movie, Ricky Bobby is the first character that naturally fits with Will’s one-track acting mind. Going into this one, I was afraid all the funny parts were run dry in the previews, but was pleasantly surprised by the number of laughs I got from the supporting actors. This has got to be Michael Clarke Duncan’s funniest role ever, and I would love to see him try for more. Will’s SNL co-star Molly Shannon was also a riot, even though all she had to do was be drunk and zany. John C. Reilly also has an amazing chemistry with Will; “Shake and Bake” might have something to do with it. But perhaps the funniest lines were from Walker and Texas Ranger (Houston Tumlin and Grayson Russell) as they changed from obnoxious brats into Sunday school goers that even compliment the food at Applebee’s.

Was that Elvis Costello and Mos Def?

The movie lacks coherence big time. It feels like things were left on the cutting room floors or just plain never made it into the script. Like Ricky’s newly discovered true love Susan (what some might consider an important role) only gets a few lines when she deserves much more. It also seems to contradict Ricky’s new outlook by yet again focusing only on himself. Plus, Ricky’s relationships with a number of characters seem unresolved by the end. What the hell is up with Chip? Was he just there for Walker and Texas Ranger to torment? I know it’s a comedy and certainly not a tear jerker, but coherence isn’t something to be tossed around like a Tom Cruise joke.

So Will Ferrell finally makes his acting and comedy style work together for a part, and NASCAR is finally parodied. Who could ask for anything more? It is definitely good for some laughs and is a nice summer flick, but don’t expect it to win any awards–and we here at amplizine hand out awards as fast as we hand over the booze money to the cashier. I’d even go as far to say we’re the award sluts of the critics’ world. That’s why I give Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 3 stars, and if you’re not first, you’re last.

Amplizine Awards