Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

[Britty]

I went in with low expectations, but it wasn't bad. There were some very funny moments. Texas Ranger was adorable. None of the French driver stuff was funny. I think you need to at least have some idea of what NASCAR is about to really appreciate a lot of it. My husband used to work for a couple of different NASCAR teams so we were entertained.

[susyhomewrecker]

I spent about 10 minutes going, "Ohhhhh, that's who that was" on IMDB this morning because I recognized so many people but couldn't place them -- Ricky Bobby's mother, for one (Paula in 40-Year-Old Virgin).

Yep! I recognized her about halfway through the movie and went, "ohhhh, futbol!" The most random appearance, though, was by far <<Elvis Costello and Mos Def.>>

[Deleted]

I think I was just in the right mood for this movie because I HOWLED. I was the annoying person who just busts a gut laughing and keeps laughing even though the joke wasn't that funny in the first place. The stuff with the cougar made me cry with laughter and the line "I'm as hard as a diamond in an ice storm" was excellent! Plus, everything with John C. Reilly. His reaction to the explanation of the name "El Diablo" was hysterical. Well, his reactions to everything were hysterical. I also liked seeing Amy Adams. I had no idea she was in this.

That said, I recognize that it wasn't as awesome as Anchorman and will probably be a lot lelss funny upon second viewing but I was in hysterics while watching it. I also thought that Sacha Baron Cohen was pretty wasted. The guy is hysterical but his character, save for some inspired moments, was just not that funny.

However, I liked Miami Vice AND Mission: Impossible: 3 so.... well.... yeah.

[petals]

johnboysmole said:

I honestly think this movie was meant for those of us not into Nascar. From what I've seen in the previews, and judging by the history of the actors and writers involved, I think this is kind of an exaggerated, satirical look at car racing.

I saw someone on TV last night complaining about the movie mocking Southern culture, as well as religious people. I haven't seen the movie, so I can't really comment. But the rant about it was certainly eyeroll worthy.

[Malle Babbe]

I caught some of that at the gym last night. I was listening to my MP3 player, but I caught the closed captioning. Blah Blah evil liberals, blah blah Mel Gibson, blah blah blah. Don't they make fun of a French guy in this flick? You'd think that would make up for it.

[susyhomewrecker]

petals said:

johnboysmole said:

I honestly think this movie was meant for those of us not into Nascar. From what I've seen in the previews, and judging by the history of the actors and writers involved, I think this is kind of an exaggerated, satirical look at car racing.

I saw someone on TV last night complaining about the movie mocking Southern culture, as well as religious people. I haven't seen the movie, so I can't really comment. But the rant about it was certainly eyeroll worthy.

Well, the characters do play into the Bible-Belt/NASCAR/Rah-Rah-America stereotype. I can see why some people MIGHT take offense to that, since the majority of the characters are laughably ignorant, but what characters in a Will Ferrell movie aren't? It doesn't matter where the movie is set, WF's character will almost always be a self-absorbed ass, because that's just what he does, and the people around him will always be clueless so that WF's character can get away with being a self-absorbed ass. As Ron Burgundy would say, "It's science."

Anyway, I didn't really see the movie mocking anyone except NASCAR drivers and their wives. I wonder what they think?

[Deleted]

I don't see how this movie could be seen as mocking religious people. The only thing I can think of is Ricky Bobby's obsession with the baby Jesus. It wasn't the Jesus part that was meant to be laughed at!

Anywho, I loved this movie! I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long time.

[marywebgirl]

I just got back and I was disappointed. I just thought it was slow and boring. I fell asleep when he was talking to Amy Adams and didn't wake up until the Talladega 500. I guess I missed <<Elvis and Mos Def.

[Deleted]

Saw this last night and didn't find it too funny. I didn't like all the homophobic jokes. Mostly though, I hated those kids and their filthy, disrespectful mouths. I didn't think that schtick was funny. The rest of the theater seemed to really love it though.

[lyrasilver]

The best part of this movie were the "baby Jesus" prayers. It wasn't as funny as Anchorman, but I'll probably buy it on DVD because there were a few funny moments. My sister and I still look at each other and start, "Dear tiny, itty bitty baby Jesus..."