Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Quick review, so I’ll make this a quick intro. Here’s hoping I’ll get a chance to check this one out soon:
I have been a fan of your site such its inception and want to congratulate you and the staff on all your success and thank you for all the hard work you do to share your love of film with the rest of us “geeks.”
I was lucky enough to be invited to a private screening of “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (the latest Will Ferrell vehicle) and I must admit it is a great return to form for those who enjoyed Will ’s great comedic turns in “Old School” and “Anchorman.”
In short this film was wonderful mindless FUN. Do not go into the film expecting much of a plot as it is completely cookie-cutter (i.e. kid grows up to race car, man is top driver in the world and then it all comes crumbling down and he learns who he really is, and then truly wins..blah blah blah). This film is merely a platform for Will Ferrell’s brand of humor and pokes great fun at the NASCAR scene and America ’s fascination with it. Just sit back, turn your brain off, and enjoy Ferrell doing what he does best..and that is make his audience laugh…A LOT.
While watching it I couldn’t help but think of some of the early Adam Sandler films like “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore” (two of my personal comedic favs) in some of the bizarre one-liners and odd characters that come out of nowhere.
Standout performances abound with Gary Cole (?) as Ricky Bobby’s degenerate pothead father and Ricky’s two kids, Walker and Texas Ranger. His buddy Cal (played by John C Reilly) is a great “Robin” to Will ’s “Batman” and has some great lines throughout the film, especially when telling Ricky about some things he did while Ricky is in a self-induced coma after his “accident.”
Ferrell seems to be channeling Burt Reynolds from “Cannonball Run” along with his impersonation of George W Bush from SNL and it comes off perfectly.
Ricky’s nemesis in the film is a bit paper thin however is the perfect foil for Red-Blooded All-American Ricky Bobby. He is an effeminate Frenchman with an incredibly thick French accent who is the exact opposite of everything you would expect from the beer drinking, Lynrd Skynrd listening, God fearing, Marlboro Man that the film ultimately parodies.
The end is predictable and somewhat underwhelming yet overall I would highly recommend this film to an audience that can laugh at itself and enjoy a funny film.
If you are one of the talkback douches who nitpicks every detail of a film because it wasn’t exactly what they had in their mind’s eye then you probably will leave the theater unsatisfied, but then don’t you do that with practically every film already?
If you use this please call me “Fred Garvin.”
Keep up the great work!
We’ve had a lot of Fred Garvins over the years, but I’ll use it again, since I’m all about the male prostitutes.
... errrrr... that may have come out wrong.
"Moriarty" out.
