Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

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Directed by Adam McKay.

Starring Gary Cole, John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amy Adams, Leslie Bibb, Sacha Baron Cohen.

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When America's number one NASCAR speed-demon is issued a direct challenge from a gay, French Formula One racer with a hunger for the top spot and a mean talent for tight-cornering, the race is on to become the number one man in all of NASCAR in a full throttle comedy starring Will Ferrell and directed by Anchorman cohort Adam McKay. Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is a national hero with a "smokin' hot" trophy wife, pair of borderline-abusively precocious sons, and an endless line of endorsement deals filling his mansion with toys and driveway with sports cars and Hummers. His racing partner and lifelong friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), never fails to provide him with a hand on the racetrack, frequently performing their trademark "slingshot" maneuver to shoot Ricky into first place, leaving Cal in second. While the public loves these buddies (popularly known by the meaningless childhood nicknames they find so exceedingly cool: "Shake and Bake"), a wedge comes between the two, as Ricky Bobby's longstanding winning-streak is broken by flamboyand French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), robbing Ricky of everything in an instant as the trauma leaves him unable to drive. Ricky's wife takes his fortunes while Cal takes his wife, and now he's back with his mother (Jane Lynch) and long-estranged father (Gary Cole). Things look bad for Ricky, but his father was once a race car driver himself, and now with the help of a training montage, a live cougar, and the courage to drive without his gleaming white Wonder Bread endorsement, Ricky might be ready to face the track again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Semi-Pro (2008)
by aidanbrack in The Bigger Picture

liked it.

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"Hot off the success of Anchorman and Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell stars in Semi-Pro. This is a movie that tries to combine the retro 70s elements of Anchorman with the sporting action of Nights and yet ends up a poor cousin to both films. Its familiarity is a substantial part of why this movie fails to impress. Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, owner, coach and player for The Tropics, a basketball team that is going nowhere. With the threat of the semi-professional leagues shutting down, Moon aims to score a top four finish for his team that will result in being moved to the prestigious NBA in a merger. Like Anchorman, Ferrell's character struggles with newfound competition, this time from Woody Harrelson as former NBA player Ed Monix. Like Anchorman there is a scene in which Ferrell fights a member of the bear family (though it is far less funny). Like Anchorman, Ferrell's character relaxes musically - this time by spinning lps rather than playing the flute. Sure, there's some fun mome ... " [More]

Re:Mad Lib #6: Intimidation
by leeroy711 in Movie Games

hasn't rated it.

"[quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="SkyPilot"] YESSS!! It's done! Can't wait to see it! (and by the way, I ripped off this noun from a Talladega Nighs outtake) [/quote] ALMOST DONE! Actually I just need one more entry 67. A Number Please someone answer so I can get this thing up! I'm PSYCHED! [/quote] 711 " [More]

Re:Mad Lib #6: Intimidation
by Risselada in Movie Games

hasn't rated it.

"[quote user="SkyPilot"] YESSS!! It's done! Can't wait to see it! (and by the way, I ripped off this noun from a Talladega Nighs outtake) [/quote] ALMOST DONE! Actually I just need one more entry 67. A Number Please someone answer so I can get this thing up! I'm PSYCHED! " [More]

Re:Mad Lib #6: Intimidation
by SkyPilot in Movie Games

loved it.

"66. noun feline snowblindness YESSS!! It's done! Can't wait to see it! (and by the way, I ripped off this noun from a Talladega Nighs outtake) " [More]

A 'Step' in the wrong direction
by usesoap in usesoap Blog

liked it.

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"I get the whole arrested development-style of comedy invading theaters of late. “Old School” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” really opened wide the door of such man-boy-based humor. So it was only logical that the star of the former and the director of the latter get together to produce yet another trip to Neverland, where modern-day Peter Pans can dance with their Lost Boy compadres. The result is “Step Brothers,” which teams Will Ferrell with John C. Reilly as two men in their 40s whose remora-like existence is severed when their single parents decide to marry. Where Judd Apatow's “Virgin's” lead was more of an introverted geek who otherwise led a normal, self-sufficient life by societal standards, Ferrell and Reilly play two infantile sluggards whose puerile, petulant behavior and refusal to let go of their parents' proverbial hands would cause Oedipus himself to proclaim, “Man, those guys are messed up!” Ferrell and ... " [More]

Bruno's Prank: Arkansas Cage Fi ...
by lopezdash in The Movie Blog

liked it.

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"Our good friends at the Associated Press are reporting that an Arkansas cage fighting event recently got the Sacha Baron Cohen treatment. Crowds in Arkansas came for the lure of cage fighting and $1 beer, but police say what they got instead was men ripping each others' clothes off and kissing . "We had a contract for cage fighting. We were deceived," said Dwight Duncan, president and CEO of Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, where the first of two Arkansas fights raised suspicions last month. Matt Labov, a Los Angeles-based publicist for Baron Cohen, said he had no comment Monday about the faked fights. One of Baron Cohen's movies is due out next year. The day after the June 5 Texarkana bout, Fort Smith's convention center hosted "Blue Collar Brawlin.'" Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said organizers told him a character named "Straight Dave" would goad a planted audience member into the ring for a fight. The two men would then wrestle, rip away some of their clothes and ... " [More]

Is this a movie about racing?
by NevermoresRaven in NevermoresRaven Blog

disliked it.

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"What happened to racing films? Where did we lose our way? How did we go from "Days of Thunder" to things like "Fast and the Furious"(which calling it a racing film is a big stretch and giving it too much credit) and "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby"?So let's talk about the latter, shall we? According to "Talladega Nights" all NASCAR drivers and fans are nothing but moronic rednecks from the deep south, giving the film a very one demensional feel with a "HURR HURR, REDNECKS ARE STUPID!" vibe. Will Ferrell's character(Ricky Bobby) has no depth and comes across as just a stupid southern boy(he names his kids "Walker" and "Texas ranger" for god's sake!). Even the other characters just come off as nothing more than yamering white trash drunks(with the exception of Ricky's pit cheif and Sacha Baron Cohen's French import driver).Speaking of Sacha Baron Cohen, this guy just ain't that ... " [More]

Re: Top 5 Everybody Seems To Lo ...
by achance42 in Top 5

disliked it.

"5. There's Something About Mary/Meet the Parents - I don't really hate these movies but I have no desire to see either one again and they deserve to be singled out for what they have wrought in their paths. For all their "shock" humor value, neither film is that funny. In fact, between these two being big hits and the success of "Friends," which thrived entirely on the premise that a funny dialogue all depends on the inflections with which it is being said, lowered America's expectations for comedy in the 21st century.4. The Illusionist - I was extraordinarily bothered by Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men, not because it was poorly made or poorly acted or anything like that, but because it was painfully obvious to me from about five minutes in who was zooming whom. I had a much deeper reaction to The Illusionist. Not only was it easy to figure out where you were supposed to start looking for the twist (because of course there was one) but again, I figured out who w ... " [More]

Little Miss Sunshine - Talladeg ...
by MovieBabe in MovieBabe Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"By Tricia Olszewski Little Miss Sunshine has a precocious kid with giant glasses, Steve Carell, and a name cloying enough to hurt your teeth—and it’s also depressing as hell. The plot is simple—a family drives from New Mexico to California so their young daughter can participate in a beauty pageant. But the topics that pop up along the way are not: Drug addiction, bankruptcy, death, divorce, suicide, and squelched dreams figure in the debut of co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and scripter Michael Arndt. It’s hard to imagine a sadder journey. Especially one that simultaneously makes you laugh. The Hoover family is already barely keeping it together before they load themselves into a VW bus and head for the titular pageant. Sheryl (Toni Collette) hurriedly throws fast food on the table for dinner and has just taken it upon herself to care for her suicidal brother, Frank (Carell), after he leaves the hospital with bandaged wrists. According to d ... " [More]

Talladega Nights
by PinkElly101 in PinkElly101 Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Full on lagh out loud, pee your pants, and roll on the floor laughing!! I loved it! It was so damb funny!!!! For the number one movie for 7 months streight, this movie is well worth seeing5 stars 3 thumbs up rating= PG13 " [More]

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Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

You can spoil a movie like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby by saying too much about it, since most of the humor is almost impossible to accurately describe; you either like it or you don't. Fans of Will Ferrell know this brand of comedy well, and they'll find what they're looking for in this movie as Ferrell delivers a solid combination of his stock self-effacing dumbassery and an obvious sense of fun in exploring a new character. Talladega does seem like it exists in the same universe as Ferrell's last collaboration with director Adam McKay, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, even though Anchorman delivered more in terms of absolute manic hilarity. Where Talladega Nights lacks a vicious street fight between rival news teams, however, it makes up for it with John C. Reilly, a live cougar, and a dead-on satire of the white-trash NASCAR stereotype. A good example of this is Ricky's two young sons bearing the proud names Walker and Texas Ranger, a choice their mother vehemently defends: "If we wanted some wussies, we'd have named 'em Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman!" The top-flipping, hee-hawing, KFC-is-a-balanced-meal end of the cultural spectrum isn't the only one that gets mocked: Sacha Baron Cohen proves he's capable of evoking laughter without dressing up as Borat or Ali G., as he assumes the role of a gay, French, Formula One driver with an intentionally muddled accent, a Perrier endorsement on his car, and a plan to retire with his husband to Stockholm where they can "design a currency to be used by dogs and cats." Reilly is awesomely funny as Ricky's sidekick Cal, filling the role we might have expected to see David Koechner in, and Gary Cole manages to make you laugh, rather than recoil, even though you can almost smell his dirty wife beater and can of Laughing Clown Malt Liquor. Still, if none of those descriptions sound enticing, this probably just isn't the comedy for you. If you're a fan of the Anchorman/Old School/Zoolander style WillFerrellism, however, Talladega Nights should provide more than adequate entertainment. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Tags: hilarious , infant-baby-jesus , friendship , nascar , comedy
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