A very strange movie

Rating: 1/10 (12 August 2006)

Movies are a very effective form of getting a point across, either through the actions/dialogue of a character, or the plot of the movie -- these add up to a "moral" or "lesson." Most comedies do not have this; they exist merely to entertain. Take a movie like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. It is a silly movie, and it does not try to be anything else than a silly movie. And it is extremely effective in its silliness, as well, because the movie is set in a world with rules, even if the rules are stupid. This is the main problem with Talladega Nights. It has no rules. Every character in this movie contradicts him or herself hundreds of times. We think that Ricky Bobby is going act a certain way, and instead he does the exact opposite.
And this is where you have to decide: were the creators of this movie aware of this fact? Did they purposely make every character in this movie NOT likable, simply through their willingness to change their own actions based on a final, pre-set outcome? Was the ending of this movie at all surprising? Of course not. But did Will Ferrell do that on purpose? My point here is that I cannot tell whether or not this movie is intended to be so bad as to be a commentary on NASCAR culture and patriotism. If it is, it is quite hyperbolic and biting. Every character in this movie is rather stupid, but for some reason they all get bursts of intelligence once in a while -- even that doesn't fit the whole "parody" paradigm.
And, if the movie is not self-aware of its own ridiculousness, then it is a VERY, VERY bad movie, with lame set-ups for jokes and characters that are so inconsistent they make you want to smash your head on a rock. I usually hate when people write things like "This movie wasn't funny, because no one in the theater laughed." Well, I went to this movie, and every time there was supposed to be a joke, no one laughed. Again, either the comedy is so smart that it's going over our heads here, or it's just very stupid. Whether this movie serves as a commentary on American culture, or was just a vehicle for Will Ferrell to act like an idiot yet again is up to you, but I think you can tell how I feel about it.