"If you're not the winner, you're the loser," Ricky's loser dad told him.

Rating: 10/10 (5 August 2006)

This was the funniest movie I've ever seen. Sadly, I often heard myself laughing alone,or nearly alone, in the crowded theater! Tallageda Nights pokes gentle fun at not just the Nascar culture, but a whole lot more of us, too. Taking ourselves too seriously can be funny in the hands of masters like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who are at their best in the Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The laughs have not been sanitized by the politically-correct police, but the humor is not mean-spirited: it's more like a chiding consciousness-raising. Here's another big plus: this movie has redeeming value! Unlike the last humorous movie I saw (Clerks II), I did not feel like a naughty voyeur as I slipped out of the theater. Rather, I felt a surprised, renewed faith in Hollywood's ability to make the audience laugh without resorting to worn-out dirty tricks and trying to out-do the last ones.