You can tell from a mile away that Will Ferrell's latest romp, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, is a one-note satire of NASCAR culture. The hope, however, is that Ferrell is such an able comedian, he'll be able to carry the unpromising premise. On one hand, no one suspected that Ferrell's movie about a '70s TV newsman would be hilarious, but Anchorman was. On the other, a meta take on the '60s TV classic Bewitched starring Ferrell and Nicole Kidman was ripe with potential, but fell flat. Talladega lands somewhere in the middle.
Ever since he was a young 'un, Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) has wanted to “go fast.” After paying dues in the pit crew of a NASCAR driver, all-American egocentric dolt Bobby gets one lone chance to get behind the wheel, and he wins. From there on out, he is a kind of idiot savant of the racetrack. When flamboyant French rival Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) arrives on the scene and challenges his winning streak, Bobby goes on an extended pout-a-thon. But, really, plot is not the key here. The setup and the actors are. Talladega rests completely on a simple formulation of Ferrell (the movie clown capable of making anyone laugh) + Cohen (one of the most excruciatingly funny character comedians around) + NASCAR parody.
That being said, Ferrell running around practically naked (see his leprechaun getup on Late Night With Conan O'Brien a few years ago, or the streaking scene in Old School) is good for a laugh once per film, and Talladega delivers on that score—he's naked and he thinks he's on fire. Some of the other stock Ferrellisms also garner laughs. During his bout of depression, Bobby imagines he's handicapped, hollering at the top of his lungs when he sticks a blade into his leg to prove it. But like most things in the world, there is a limit to how many times these bits work in one movie, and Talladega isn't shy about flogging the same jokes over and over. So Bobby and his pal Cal (John C. Reilly)'s catchphrase “shake and bake,” which is one of many unveiled pokes at down-home lowbrow Americana (his kids are named Walker and Texas Ranger, yuk, yuk) is worth a chuckle the first couple of times, but it gets old fast.
If you like Ferrell or Cohen, go ahead and buy some popcorn and check your brain at the door; you will laugh. It's 100 degrees outside anyway, and it beats spending the same $10 bucks on your electric bill.
—Nicole Schmuelian
