Talladega
Nights : The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Review
by Clint Morris
Click Here for to read the Interview with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly
He made some nice headway there for a while
– what with Old
School and Elf
– but was overtaken by the mediocrity – hopefully
Ferrell
has changed managers since enlisting for super duds Bewitched, Winter Passing,
and Kicking
& Screaming – that sometimes catches
rising stars by surprise as they embark on pole position. Having now
got a taste of what it feels like to be last [at the box office], the
talented comic steps on the [laughing] gas, shifts into a higher gear
and aims straight for greatness – or near enough –
with his
latest spin, Talladega
Nights : The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
You can’t quite call it a comeback
–
because he’s never really been away, and has only really been
down and out for a year or so – but this one is certainly a
saving grace for Ferrell’s lessening box office receipts of
late.
Or at least, should be.
Essentially a spoof on racing films
like Days of
Thunder (there’s a hilarious reference to
Tom Cruise in the film), Talladega
Nights centers on
Ricky Bobby (Ferrell), a resolute and fairly smug race car driver whose
dream run comes to a crashing halt with the arrival of a condescending
French competitor (Sacha Baron Cohen) who steals his crown. But with
the help of an estranged loser cop (Gary Cole), a feisty publicist (Amy
Adams) and most importantly, his kooky best friend (John C.Reilly),
Bobby puts himself back in the game.
The great thing about this one, especially
when
compared to some of Ferrell’s recent efforts, is that both
the
star and the writers (director Adam McKay wrote it with help from
Ferrell) really bring it in terms of, well, not necessarily storyline
– though this one is surprisingly fleshy for a film of its
type,
and they have put so much work into the car racing sequences!
– but inspired lines, funny but never over infantile laughs, and insanely
embellished but irresistible performances.
Ferrell is a comic delight as Bobby,
comfortably
conceited and redneck rough, and it ends up one of his finest, not to
mention funniest, characters to date. In addition, the supporting cast
– including the always-dependable John C. Reilly, Gary Cole,
Leslie Bibb, Molly Shannon and the wonderful Amy Adams – are
also having not only a hoot, but milking their droll characters for all
their worth. Cohen, as the (mostly)
amusing French hotshot, proves himself a formidable comic force here,
obviously relishing the chance to step outside his self-created
universe - of Ali G and Borat
– and prove to the studios that he
has what it takes to be a giggle-worthy headline act.
Nights
does start to dip near the
end, and does have a couple of moments that don’t work as
well as
the filmmakers probably hoped they would, but what light-fared comedy
doesn’t suffer from such denigration? This one, at least, has
a
fairly good fizzer:ripper ratio – and is yards better than
Ferrell and McKay’s Anchorman - when it
comes to
the jokes.
Sure to be one of the year’s most
popular
crowd-pleasers, Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky
Bobby is the perfect liniment for the usually deprived
funny
bone.
3.5 out
of 5
Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Australian release: 21st
September, 2006
Cast: Will Ferrell, John C Reilly, Sacha
Baron Cohen, Leslie Bibb
Director: Adam McKay
Website: Click
here.
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