I Hate To Admit It, But I Liked This One

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2006)

Ricky Bobby grows up to become a big-time race car driver. With the conflict of having no father to raise him, life was not always easy. And now, as an adult, he is finally ready to meet his match: a French driver from the Formula Un series. Can Ricky make him surrender? Shake and bake! I really don't want to like this film, because I think Will Ferrell is past his prime already and on his way out. The bigger a role he receives, the less likely he is to make a good movie, because he is just such a dumb actor. Popping in for a brief time ("Wedding Crashers") is alright, but a full movie ("Elf")? I don't know. Yet, he took the whole film here and ran with it.
The help came from John C. Reilly, who was fantastic as Cal Naughton, Jr. While he is not the usual co-star of Ferrell (such as Vince Vaughn, or one of the Wilson brothers) he was a dominant force. Seeing some new faces was very good, although having "Crash" from "Anchorman" was a nice touch, as I would consider "Anchorman" to be Ferrell's best film.
Stealing the show was Sacha Baron Cohen as Jean Girard. I did not even recognize him until the movie was almost over. Cohen is a master of disguise ("Alig G", "Borat", "Bruno") and I would say this was his best performance yet. All the French references were great (Albert Camus, Perrier, crepes) and this character was so much more than just a simple parody of French culture. Why he was hanging out with Elvis Costello and Mos Def is unknown to me.
This film has the comedy that other films by these creators have, with constant pop culture references that pay off if you get it. And heck, if you don't, there's a good amount of really stupid humor, too (such as the imaginary fire). My favorite scene might be where they try to figure out how to pry out a knife from a man's leg.
If you want a cheese fountain at your wedding with nachos and seven different kinds of cheese, you need to see this movie.