Misses the Mark Completely

Rating: 3/10 (3 December 2006)

"Talladega Nights: The Balad of Ricky Bobby" is a Will Ferrell vehicle (no pun intended) in the same vein as "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy" (as you can tell by the similar, pretentious titles). I can't really explain why "Talladega Nights" worked for all those I saw it with and all of my friends, and yet there was really nothing in it that worked for me. Mind you, I loved "Anchorman" to death, and still think that it's a hilarious movie. However, TN was the exact opposite for me. Maybe it's because I don't follow NASCAR at all, or maybe it's because the same formula just didn't work the second time around.
Will Ferrell and others on screen were said to have improvised all of the time, much of the footage making it into the film. This fact seemed painfully obvious to me, watching scenes and gags that dragged on and on, losing steam quickly. You can especially tell at the dinner scene with the "Baby Jesus" joke and with the two bratty and annoying boys who weren't funny to begin with. The film on a whole actually felt like watching outtakes on a DVD for an hour and a half. I personally like my comedy to be something other than watching the actors screw around the whole time.
The actors, even Will Ferrell, couldn't carry this over-bloated film. The characters were completely boring and didn't have any of the appeal of those in "Anchorman". Sacha Baron Cohen makes for the only worthwhile aspect of the movie (and gave one of the three stars in my rating), sporting a hilarious French accent and yet again creating another brilliant character. Everything else falls flat completely, with a storyline that goes nowhere and jokes that for the most part seem to be pounding you over the head saying "It's funny! It's funny!". Satire? Far from it.
Is it just me? The more I think about it, the more I say "no". TN tries too hard to duplicate the magic that Ferrell and company made with "Anchorman", and almost none of it works. Though I tried to look through the barrage of product placement and the in-your-face, dragging jokes, I could find nothing special about this movie. It may work for some, but for others (and myself) it comes off as a work solely meant for the self-indulgent purposes of Will Ferrell and friends.