mild comedy

Rating: 5/10 (23 September 2006)

Born in the back a car going over 100 miles per hour, Ricky Bobby has been a speed freak, with a creedal of "I wanna go fast", and "If you ain't first, your last." In a brief look at his childhood, Ricky wants speed and the love of his father. Jump to adulthood, Ricky Bobby works in the NASCAR pits. Soon Ricky is out of the pits and soon the number one driver of the circuit. Life friend Cal Naughton has always been loyal to Ricky, even to the expense of his career to boost Ricky's. With his ego running overdrive, Ricky hits a bump when French driver Jean Girrard, ruins Ricky's career and life.
Written by Will Farrell and Adam McKay, with McKay also as director, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, is a flashy NASCAR, without the grunt or muscle. Done by the same team as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights follows the same suit and style of comedy as Anchorman, but something is missing. While not finding Anchorman a brilliant comedy, it has its charm; and the amazing Steve Carell. The comedy is flat, running off overly drawn out jokes.
A prerequisite would be not to watch the trailer. All the good jokes were in there and knowing them before hand, left nothing good to laugh at. The chuckles are small and spread to far apart. There is fun to be had, spikes of humor come out of nowhere, but then drops back to flat-line.
Will Farrell shows what he's good at, and he is good. Not as outlandish as Ron Burgundy, Farrell puts a nice balance between Ricky's hubris and hollowness, and actually looks realistic during Ricky's downfall stage. John C. Reilly is also good as Cal, who sticks through thick and thin. Sacha Baron Cohen seriously, seriously, hams it up as Jean. The accent is stretch far beyond caricature, but ultimately works.
While there is some interesting sub text and playing on clichÃ©s on ignorant Americans, homosexuals and NASCAR scene, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, could do with a lot more kick to it.