Talladega Nights The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Meh, it was okay

Rating: 6/10 (26 March 2019)

Talladega Nights is one of those movies I was rather shocked I hadn't seen, it was high profile, I don't mind Ferrell's work and you see it referenced all time yet it's taken me this long to get around to it.
I expected generic Hollywood drivel and it is, but thanks to some decent writing (In places) I'd say it's an above par effort (Just).
With a vast who's who cast and co-written by Ferrell himself this tells the story of Nascar driver Ricky Bobby as he reaches the pinnacle of the industry only to lose it all when a rival turns up and takes his spot.
With Greg Germann playing the same character he always does, namely the really easy to hate villainous type and Sacha Baron Cohen whom I simply cannot abide for some reason. Regarding him I have to say I admire his work and him as a human being, I just can't stand him in anything I've seen thus far!
The film adopts all the usual tropes you'd expect and is hugely paint by numbers, it's incredible cast feel rather wasted though it was really nice to see Gary Cole as it always is.
Some of the writing caught me off guard with how good it was, sadly that only happened 3-4 times and the rest is really generic stuff.
If you like standard Hollywood comedy you can do worse, if you want something you haven't seen a hundred times before then hop, skip and jump over it.
The Good:
Gary Cole
Some surprisingly good humor
Some great songs on the soundtrack
The Bad:
Sacha Baron Cohen
Usual formula