2nd Round for the guys...

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2008)

I had great expectations with this film; the return of the Adam McKay/Will Ferrell duo after the very good, funny and successful "Anchorman". Like Ron Burgundy, Ricky Bobby is a NASCAR driver, a unique character, one of those that only someone like Ferrell can bring alive. It's almost like it doesn't matter what the character does in the film, as long as he entertains an audience that expects a lot.
As I said, I expected a lot. I expected to be entertained, to laugh and to discover what new range of characters McKay could bring to the table. Alongside the unstoppable Ricky Bobby is his best friend and teammate Cal Naughton Jr. (the underrated John C. Reilly), his gold-digger wife Carley (the beautiful Leslie Bibb), a scene-stealing performance by Gary Cole as Ricky's father, and Sascha Baron Cohen as a French driver called Jean Girard that instantly becomes Ricky Bobby's rival.
Everything you've just read, from the names to the story and whatever else you may think OK, is borderline ridiculous, as it was in "Anchorman". I'm glad both Ferrell and McKay (who wrote the script together) were able to honor this kind of humorous tradition, where laughter is the only disease and also the only possible medicine.
There's no point in judging a film like "Talladega Nights" for its performances, however intelligent and accurate they are; or for how well shot the race sequences are, as the cars try to get the number one spot; or for how conventional may the storyline be. This film is a statement that reassures what we could perfectly sense in McKay's previous effort: making cinema is fun.
Should I say end of the story? Maybe, and I don't want to sound simplistic but it's obvious that something's being done here and that if you want to feel it, you'll find the movie is alright. So when you watch "Talladega Nights" (if you decide to watch it), take into account the whole concept and not every part. Even when there are some scenes and a few jokes that work more than others (which also happened in "Anchorman"), but this is the typical piece where the whole triumphs over the separation.
For me, it worked; even though "Anchorman" worked better. This is the kind of parody, like "Zoolander" and "Dodgeball" that, whether good or bad, stays with you.