Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - Review

If I had to pick my favourite Will Ferrel comedy, it would have to go to Elf. However, in second place is Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Ironic because if this movie teaches us anything, it's that "if you ain't first, you're last." Or at least, that is what Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrel) believes and lives by growing up. Eventually he becomes the best driver in all of NASCAR and with it, receives a giant ego. He gets himself a hot trophy wife, tons of endorsement deals, a huge house, and of course, first place over and over and over again. That is until Jean Girard (Sasha Baron Cohen) comes into the picture and takes away the throne from Ricky Bobby. Ricky must then learn about humility and let go of his ego in order to get back to the world of NASCAR. Sound like another movies about Cars that came out around this time period? Yes, I noticed that this film is almost identical in story and plot to Pixar's animated hit Cars. Sure, the fall from grace and having to remember the roots of why they loved the sport in the first place is nothing new, but they even use some of the same imagery like the protagonist posing for commercials, driving backwards to win a race, even having fans "flash" our hero but immediately switch their fandom to another racer once our hero is no longer the best in the business. There are videos on the Internet that dive into every detail if you want to see more. However, this movie is a lot funnier and raunchier than Cars. On the surface, this is a pretty dumb comedy full of dumb humour (like running around the NASCAR track in your underwear kind of dumb), but it tells it in a way that is subtly smart. First off, Will Ferrell's characters always seem to have awesome names. Ron Burgundy, Chazz Michael Michaels and of course Ricky Bobby. And you can tell that Will Ferrell is having a blast every time that he is on screen. Same with John C. Reilly as Cal Naughton Jr., Gary Cole as Ricky's dad Resse Bobby and really everybody in this movie gets laughs. Not only that, but man is this movie quotable. "Shake and Bake", "I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-Shirt", and " I threw Grandpa Chip's war medals off the bridge." God these are some funny lines. However, why I say this movie is actually genius is that it points a mirror to America. The constant product placement everywhere, American sports, the love of fast food, the intolerance to other cultures or sexual orientations, this movie tackles all those subjects and I can still laugh all these years later.