Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Director Adam McKay Proves that a Car Racing Movie can be Funny

Sep 28, 2008

Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Leslie Bibb in a parody on fast culture embodied in a NASCAR speed racer, produced by Ferrell & Judd Apatow. Some spoilers are included.

If you think that car racing movies tend to bore technophobes and women, think again. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is Adam McKay’s comic take on car racing, with Will Ferrell at the wheel (and John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen fighting for it), and it contains more than a few surprises.

Ferrell & Reilly

After years of occupying American television, Will Ferrell finally moves to the big screen. Too late? Let the proof be in the pudding. Back in the days of Saturday Night Live, it would not have been surprising to catch Will Ferrell prancing around awkwardly with college students, dressed up as Janet Reno. In fact, ‘awkwardness’ is the very caricature, the very comedy card Ferrell loves to pull. Bewitched brought him to the big screen, and now he seems ready to take on bigger things.

John C. Reilly, on the other hand, gives a show-stopping performance as estranged husband Amos in the musical film Chicago, especially when he belts ‘Mr. Cellophane’. He is good foil to Ferrell, being of same age, same build, and a know-it-all air that easily deflates Ferrell’s bimbo.

Faster, Better, Funnier!

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby pulls out all the stops. It is neither technical nor sporty. It is a comedy about Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) the car racer, who, though he had seen his famous racing father Reese (Gary Coleman) only once, firmly remembers his mantra, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” This takes Ricky to the top of the racetracks, where he celebrates his victories with wife Carley (Leslie Bibb), two kids and best buddy Cal, played by John C. Reilly, rodeo-style.

Macho mid-western American dialect is used to great comedy effect, when Ricky’s family and Cal gather to dine. Ricky insists on saying “Sweet baby Jesus” when saying grace, though the rest of his family insist ‘baby’ is incorrect. This results in an inventive string of prayers by Cal and Ricky. The drama swiftly turns to Ricky’s two nasty children, whose mouths can do with a good washing. Carley’s old father feebly objects to the children’s bad language, but Ricky and Carley swiftly put him down, declaring that the only way to be winners is to be bad.

‘Shake & Bake’ Brotherhood

The tension builds nicely throughout the film, without being too predictable. Cal is Ricky’s nemesis, but rightly so, as Cal had always given first place up to Ricky. So when Ricky is at his lowest, having lost his wife and job to Cal, Cal’s audacity to ring and whine about being alone in a great big house (Ricky’s!) is black humour at its best.

‘Shake and bake’ is Ricky and Cal’s slogan, to rattle their enemies’ confidence, and it is good to see them buddies again at the end of the movie. But not without a long climb back to the top for poor Ricky Bobby.

That Cougar

Adam McKay hits gold when he decides to go the extreme and put a cougar in Ricky’s beat-up car. Down and out, having lost the race to Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) the French racer and his wife to Cal, Ricky deteriorates quickly and becomes a pizza delivery man. But luckily for Ricky, his racer dad reappears. Gary Cole puts in a memorable performance as Ricky’s charismatic dad, Reese. He puts Ricky back into the seat with a series of tests, starting with...you guessed it...a cougar. It is drop dead funny stuff.

Fast Cars, Fast Women

The women are just as hilarious. Carley Bobby is Ricky’s ‘fast and furious’ wife, ferociously played by Leslie Bibb. She is a blonde who dresses in tight shiny sports gear, complete with pointy heels and a sharp tongue – in other words, the ultimate racing babe. Her rodeo drawl is flawless, and her attitude is sexy yet poisonous. Susan, the mousy secretary, played by Amy Adams, is definitely Carley’s opposite. But when she meets down-and-out Ricky playing videogames, she confesses her unfailing loyalty and becomes a Carley (and cougar) herself!

Girard the French Racer

A surprise appearance is made by Sacha Baron Cohen, that comedian made famous by his Ali G and Borat personas. He plays Jean Girard, the French racer who challenges Ricky. Cohen looks very Parisian with his hair slicked back, but his French stutters and European irony fall flat, next to Ricky and Cal’s inventive, bubbly comedy. Afterall, only one character can be ‘the dumb one’ and Ferrell has already taken that spot. Cohen’s straightfaced, surly Girard is second-rate funny, compared to Cohen’s previous inventions.

In a nutshell, Talladega Nights is not really about racing, nor sportsmanship, but it is this that makes it a winning formula. You go, Ferrell!

Newest Film by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay, also Stars John C. Reilly

The copyright of the article Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in Comic Films is owned by Lynette S.K. Webster. Permission to republish Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.