Will Farell still doesn't know when bad jokes stop being funny...

Rating: 5/10 (2 April 2009)

There are a couple of kids in Talladega Nights who I imagine are meant to be a hilarious representation of typical, smart-ass redneck kids, but most people will probably find them to be the most tasteless thing in a largely tasteless comedy. Of course, the movie is pretty honest in the kind of mindless slapstick that it delivers, but whose idea were those kids? There's a scene mid-way through the movie where they viciously berate an old man, their grandfather, while their idiot father, Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) loudly agrees with them, like any proud father would.
Of course, we all know not to take the movie seriously, but it is definitely a problem when we meet these two little bastards who arouse an intense desire to see them on the receiving end of a series of good smacks, only to have our heroes shower them with praise.
But of course, first and foremost Talladega Nights is a spoof film about American Nascar culture and rednecks in general. I have heard some people offended by the term "redneck," but some of my closest friends proudly call themselves rednecks, and the term is just a little too descriptive and useful (not to mention accurate) to give it up. This premise provides for endless comedic opportunities, although you may find yourself wondering through much of the movie's parade of slapstick gags who the intended audience is. Ferrell has developed a very unique style of humor, but there are a lot of scenes in the movie that it's hard to imagine anyone laughing at.
Unless, of course, they're having an all-night Will Ferrell movie marathon and are still drunk or stoned or both from watching Old School, a much better and funnier movie.
Will Ferrell plays Ricky Bobby, a Nascar driver without a thought in his head and a name that pokes hilarious fun at other celebrities with two first names, like Tom Arnold, Ron Howard, Larry David, Shannon Elizabeth, and M. Night Shyamalan. It also reminds me of some other surnameless celebs, like the unfortunate Tommy Lee Jones, Seann William Scott, and arguably Sarah Jessica Parker and Neil Patrick Harris, who not only were tragically born without last names, but freighted with three first ones. Who would do such a thing to a child?
Anyway, sorry for the digression, although it is telling that that particular digression is more interesting than this movie. And by the way, what would you call someone with a name like Ricky Bobby? Should he be called by his first name or his second first name? I'll stick with the first first one.
Ricky Bobby has had an obsession with speed since childhood, when his father raced out the door and out of his life with all possible speed. Combine his love of speed with a competitive nature and the next logical step is Nascar, where he becomes a house-hold name. His best friend and teammate Carl Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly) runs interference on the track for him, always helping to propel Ricky across the finish line first and then bundling up all his jealousy and bitterness in a hard little ball in the back of his mind.
Everything is going great for Ricky. He's the best driver on the Nascar circuit, he has a sexy, trashy blonde wife, he's making tons and tons of money and is blissfully unaware of the muted jealousy of his best friend and teammate and he's absolutely relishing the total lack of uppity homosexual French drivers tearing up the all-American Nascar track.
Soon, however, who should arrive but an uppity, homosexual French driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), with the European audacity to tear up the all-American Nascar track. It is one of the movie's surest moments of opportunity for good comedy by poking fun at Ricky's intolerance for a Frechman on the Nascar track, coupled with his paralyzing inability to accept the concept of homosexuality, but unfortunately Ricky's potentially hilarious reaction takes second billing to the scenes of belligerent, cartoonish outwardness on the parts of Gerard and his husband, Gregory.
Unfortunately, Talladega Nights was released a full-half decade into the 21st century, which is turning out to be the century where people are developing the opinion that homosexuality is as natural as skin color, and this ironically does some real damage to the movie's comedic gay-bashing. A man who's intolerance for homosexuality nearly renders him unconscious is pretty funny, but two movie characters pushing the boundaries of public displays of affection has never been funny and probably never will be. Someone should have told the writers that.
More than anything else the movie is an opportunity for Will Ferrell to give us a lot of his traditional Will Ferrell comedy, and sometimes it is amusing and sometimes the skits are flatly stupid, but certainly the movie is entertaining. It's not a classic comedy by any stretch of the imagination and there are more flops than hits in the laugh department, but this is one of Ferrell's lesser comedies, like the disappointing Step Brothers, also starring John C. Reilly.
Will Ferrell fans understand what kind of comedy to expect from him, and those in the audience who really understand and appreciate his humor are likely to have a great time with this movie. But unfortunately it's populated with paper-thin characters who are never meant to be even the slightest bit realistic, which makes any plot development that asks us to care about them seem inconsequential and ridiculous. It's hard not to laugh when Ricky is running around the Nascar track in his underwear thinking he's on fire and pleading Tom Cruise to save him with his witchcraft, but too much of the movie is too easy not to laugh at...