Review of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) by Jordan K — 07 Feb 2016

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is Adam McKay's followup film to my favorite comedy of all time, Anchorman. It didn't seem to deliver to me as much. McKay goes on and off for me and this was kind of off - a lot of the jokes carried on for too long and the plot shifted so many times for so long, but the obxnious characters make the film what it is.

All-American Nascar superstar Ricky Bobby is on top of the world, accompanied by his best friend Cal Naughton, Jr., his wife Carly, and his two hellacious sons Walker and Texas Ranger. When he faces the flamboyantly French contender with a rich winning streak, Ricky Bobby has gone to rock bottom again and must rekindle a relationship with his deadbeat father to bring back his shakin' n' bakin' glory.

Talladega Nights is good, but it's not great. I love Anchorman. I still consider it my favorite comedy and it's a modern comedy masterpiece in my eyes. Talladega Nights has its moments, but the sharp wits and consistency of Anchorman is not present in Ricky Bobby's tale. The jokes stick around for too long and only a handful of them really work. The plot shifting from Bobby's glory to his eventual downfall isn't bad but there is tons of potential for funnier scenes chronicling Bobby's rowdy redneck gimmick and it goes from a bigger change than it looks written. The characters are really what make Talladega Nights still enjoyable. Ricky Bobby is such an engaging and idiotic character that it's hard not to love him, same goes for the start of an amazing comedy chemistry between Ferrell and Reilly. Obviously the film has its key bits: the grace scene, shake and bake, list goes on. It has its moments but overall I felt Talladega Nights is far too overrated. It's enjoyable and it works but it felt disappointed that it didn't hold up as much as McKay's other work. McKay follows this one up with Step Brothers, which I find to patch up a lot of the key issues with this film.