Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

last updated 8 January 2015

Adam McKay's Talladega Nights is the kind of 'œcheerfully asinine comedy that twists your arm until you submit,' said Wesley Morris in The Boston Globe. Not that you'll want to resist. Will Ferrell, who co-wrote and stars in the film, has ways of making you scream 'œUncle!' He plays Ricky Bobby, a brainless pit crewman who becomes a NASCAR superstar. The film opens with a hilarious scene at the Bobby dinner table, with Ricky announcing to his trashy wife, Carley, and their sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, that their meal is sponsored by 'œa certain energy drink.' They then argue over which Jesus to pray to'”baby or adult. The movie succeeds largely because Ferrell generously shares the screen with a trio of equally comic co-stars, said Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. Gary Cole is brilliant as his degenerate dad, a man so addicted to speed that his son was born in a stock car. John C. Reilly is perfectly deadpan as Ricky's best friend and driving teammate, Cal Naughton Jr. But looniest of all is Sacha Baron Cohen as the very French and gay Jean Girard, an espresso-sipping Formula One racer who reads Camus at the wheel. Ricky loses everything, including his wife, when Girard bests him, said Barry Paris in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Reduced to delivering pizzas, he tries to regain top form with bizarre confidence-building exercises. There's no reason this should be especially funny, 'œBut for some reason, it is.'

Rating: PG-13