Talladega Nights-Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Blu-ray) (2006)

"...brash, unbridled, even unhinged, but its cornpone humor is rich in parody, and its craftsmanship is superb...  Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
"Not just the funniest but the smartest comedy around by a mile.  Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly
"It is Ferrell's best movie and the summer's funniest comedy so far.  William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Editor's Note Though it is one of America's most popular sporting events, the association of NASCAR with uneducated, backwards rednecks seems cemented into the American consciousness. So the brilliant comedy TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY, is not just a sidesplitting series of slapstick pratfalls and over-the-top accents, but a lens into an important part of American culture. Comic sensation Will Ferrell (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, ANCHORMAN) plays the title character, Ricky Bobby, a figure who is at once laughably ridiculous, infuriating, and loveable. Ricky Bobby, with his bleached-blond wife, cute sons Walker and Texas Ranger, and dim-bulb sidekick Cal (award-winning actor John C. Reilly, flexing his considerable comedic muscle), has got it made. He is NASCAR's most popular driver, and nearly every aspect of his life is endorsed by a recognizable product. Yet his racetrack kingdom is not unshakeable: two formidable opponents, his unpleasable father, Reese (Gary Cole), and a flashy new opponent, the openly gay French import Jean (played by a hilarious Sasha Baron Cohen, known to millions as Ali G), threaten to hijack his crown and expose his vulnerabilities. Though many of the jokes are easy laughs (having Ferrell run around shirtless is a guaranteed guffaw-fest), the script (co-written by Farrell and Adam McKay) is nuanced and intelligent, lending its characters much more sympathy and complexity than dumber comedies are want to do. And every performer--from Ferrell to Amy Adams (as Susan, Bobby's fawning assistant)--tackles his or her part with joy and relish. A knee-slapper with smarts and savvy, TALLADEGA NIGHTS ensures Ferrell's position as one of comedy's shining talents.

	Andy Richter
	Gary Cole
	John C. Reilly
	Leslie Bibb
	Michael Clarke Duncan
	Molly Shannon
	Sacha Baron Cohen
	Will Ferrell
	Adam McKay - Director
	Adam McKay - Writer
	Alex Wurman - Original Music By
	Anthony Short - Original Music By
	Brent White - Editor
	Judd Apatow - Producer
	Oliver Wood - Cinematographer
	Will Ferrell - Writer
	Will Ferrell - Executive Producer

Entertainment Weekly
"TALLADEGA NIGHTS takes some very funny cheap shots...[The races] are scorchingly shot, and they lend the movie a zest that was missing from ANCHORMAN." -- Grade: B 08/11/2006 p.50

New York Times
"Ricky Bobby is at once a creature of pure, extravagant absurdity and a curiously vulnerable, sympathetic figure." 08/04/2006 p.E13

Total Film
5 stars out of 5 -- "A pacy, racy, relentless blitz of big, fat belly laughs..." 09/01/2006 p.30

Uncut
4 stars out of 4 -- "TALLADEGA shifts gears dramatically as the zany cast orbiting Ferrell come into their own....[With] some brilliant comedy moments..." 10/01/2006 p.153

Sight and Sound
"[U]ndeniably funny....A film that generates significant mileage out of both celebrating and humbling American hickdom." 10/01/2006 p.81

Los Angeles Times 7 of 10
"Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is a bit of a mess, but it is a genial mess, and one that will make you laugh. Which is the whole idea...As co-written by star Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay (who has a cameo as a feckless race car driver), "Talladega Nights" is not the kind of coherent, internally consistent comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" is. Rather, like the "Saturday Night Live" shows where Ferrell and McKay met, it is a series of sketches and set pieces, some of which work while others misfire...Though "Talladega Nights" is very much a guy comedy, it has found room for some sharp and amusing female roles. Leslie Bibb is all she should be as Ricky's glossy blond trophy wife, Carley; Jane Lynch stands up for comic sanity as Ricky's hardscrabble mom, Lucy Bobby; and Amy Adams, in a departure from "Junebug," plays Ricky's loyal assistant Susan. - Kenneth Turan

Reel.com 8 of 10
After crashing and burning with Kicking & Screaming and Bewitched, Will Ferrell puts the pedal to the medal with winning results in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. A laugh-out-loud funny send-up of NASCAR, the movie reunites Ferrell with his Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy director, Adam McKay. With the inestimable help of a crackerjack supporting cast headed by John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron-Cohen, a.k.a. "Ali G," Ferrell and McKay cheerfully skewer the NASCAR subculture and all things redneck in an inspired comedy that could be dubbed "The Fast and the Hilarious"...The perfect tonic to this summer's bloated, special effects-driven extravaganzas, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby crosses the finish line with flying colors. - Tim Knight