Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Directed by Adam McKay

On summer days when it’s almost too hot outside to breathe, air-conditioned silliness provides wonderful relief. So, thank you, Will Ferrell, for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

This flick is such pure and unmitigated silliness, seasoned so strongly with non-PC irreverence, the non-stop laughter it elicits is almost a guilty pleasure.

Ferrell plays Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR driver for whom life is a constant attempt to live up to the credo he adopted from his drugged-out, racecar-driving, absentee dad: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” In his race to fame and fortune, Bobby is surrounded by his hot-but-heartless wife, two foul-mouthed brat boys and a salt-of-the-earth-trailer-trash mom.  Then there’s best buddy and teammate (John C. Reilly), who always “slingshots” Bobby into first place—until a scandalous French driver (and his husband) usurp the supremacy of the Bobby bunch.

In the hands of a lesser crew, such stereotypical plot elements and characters might stall.  But with Will and his pit pals at the wheel, Talladega Nights speeds ahead with laugh-a-minute, quirky, over-the-top humor. This is Ferrell doing what he does best—that situational stand-up comedy where every scene is a crescendo of one-liners culminating in full-throttle laughter.

Take, for example, the Bobby’s family dinner scene, where there’s a serious, but hilariously absurd argument about whether you should be thanking baby, teenage or grown-up Jesus when you say grace. It’s sooo silly. Yet, this series of oh-so-silly situations adds up to a curiously compelling, fully legit and worthy story—with a beginning, middle and end. And, winning performances by an outstanding cast reveal each character’s appropriately quirky arc. Will and crew—even his bratty boys—learn some things that make them better people. So, maybe all that irreverence leads to redemption in the end.

Director (and co-writer with Ferrell) Adam McKay paces the picture perfectly. Just when you’re in serious need of relief from laughing so much and so hard, he brings you to the track for thrilling racing sequences replete with gasp-inducing crashes.

Classy camerawork with extensive aerial shots and lowdown mud-in-your-eye angles salute NASCAR in a tribute that’s more than ESPN-worthy. The film sends up the characters, never the sport.

Ferrell detractors may say his humor is formulaic. But if so, Talladega Nights is Formula One!