It has a number of troubling issues but the most pertinent is this: it just isn't funny.

Rating: 5/10 (29 June 2018)

'Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (2006)' has a number of key problems that easily make it Adam McKay's worst effort. The first issue is that it's honestly pretty offensive, as it's genuinely quite homophobic, fairly sexist, a bit xenophobic and just generally seems to dislike the very people it should most clearly be aimed at. It finds some way of taking a low-blow at pretty much every conceivable group. These low-bows that don't seem satirical to the point that they would be mocking the very idea of their inclusion - which would be the only way they could actually work and, thus, be somewhat excusable. If these dodgy jokes were used as a way to shine a light on how ridiculous the specific attitudes they highlight are, the flick could've lampooned its closed-minded characters and also taken a stance that allowed it to examine why they think the way they do, before developing them so that they become more tolerant and the overall piece can take on an ultimately inclusive tone with at least a half-decent message. The film doesn't do that, though. Not even close. Perhaps the problems were unbeknownst to those behind the camera. The jokes might've just been haphazardly thrown in without any thought to their possibly harmful nature. This leads to, or is perhaps a product of, a careless and callous kind of comedy, one that does occasionally feel a tad mean-spirited. The second main issue is an incredibly poor, almost non-existent, structure that makes the entire movie feel more like a string of improvised jokes than a proper narrative. It is very difficult to become engaged with the 'plot' at any point because of this. The piece also feels incredibly long. Another big problem is the fact that the characters are all either too blatantly unlikable or straight-up stupid - usually a combination of the two - to care about at all. This means you can never be invested in anything that happens to any of them and that the weak 'redemption' arc feels even more unearned than it would've if it were just poorly done. The final flaw is that it isn't actually all that funny, either, giving me maybe two chuckles (and I do only mean short, one-breath chuckles) in its entirety. I will say that the more irreverent, light-hearted and good-natured jokes tend to be the ones that land. In its more absurdist moments, or even its more on-point satirical ones, there is some potential. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed the piece, though, and I certainly wasn't entertained. Also, that French accent is perhaps the worst I've ever heard. 5/10