one of the most shamelessly funny movies of the year

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2006)

Like with Will Ferrell's last film as co-writer/star, Talladega Nights is genuinely smart in being completely irreverent and stupid. Sometimes I couldn't believe some of the malarkey I was getting my kicks from in watching this film, and I didn't have the same expectations I had for Anchorman (a different cast, more varied). But it turns out to be probably on par with that film in just delivering a brilliant mix of physical comedy, bits of slapstick, bits of social commentary (well, maybe lots actually), and even nuance too. The genius of Will Ferrell as race-car driver Ricky Bobby, as well as his co-stars John C. Reilly (as best friend Cal) and especially Sacha Baron Cohen as gay French driver Jean Girard, is that they're all fearless at being shameless. Some scenes could be pulled off by other comics or actors, but they just wouldn't be the same with the timing and (likely) improvisation. Something about it all just clicks with the material, and so much goes by that you might want to see it again just to get all of the parts that might've flown by.
The basic premise involves Ricky Bobby (yes, two first names as his full name with a Wonder Bread hat most of the time) as a dimwitted by earnest champion Nascar type driver who gets his game toppled by Gerard (Cohen, his funniest and spot-on role since the Da Ali G show), and after a crippling accident that left him in his underwear screaming and running around on the field. He gets his game back, however, through his even more of a redneck-type father (Gary Cole, his most ingenious playing since Office Space) through certain endeavors. This is all just a cover though for all of the juicy, unexpected comic bits, which can range from delivering big, show-stopping laughs (my favorites were the knives in the leg and Cohen and Andy Richter's odd gay marriage pairing) to little ones that you might be laughing at even as no one else in the theater does. It's also not a boring take on just race car driving either, which might've limited the material.
In the end, Talladega Nights gets its best material at lampooning the 'white-trash' types who participate in &/or love race car driving, and some of the most obvious jabs of any comedy since...well, Anchorman. It's not to say that Ferrell isn't an acquired taste- you'll either find his verbal and physical antics funny or you won't, to which this film might be a mixed bag. But everything from the product placements to the French to most Sports movies and lots of quotable lines in-between makes this the kind of comedy you might be laughing about with your friends once leaving the theater. One things for sure, I've never had a laugh so loud at an joke involving El Diablo (which is a 'fighting chicken' according to Cal) before this.