TN-TBORB
Talledega Nights – The Ballad of Ricky Bobby – Will Ferrell is popular as a comedian, but I’ve yet to find him in a movie that’s particularly funny. This one was well-received, so I thought I’d check it out, especially since it has Sasha Baron Cohen in it, as well as John C Reilly, an actor I like very much. I’d say that of the three, John C Reilly is the funniest, with his good ole boy routine and his optimism that he can steal his best friend’s hot wife and still remain buddies. Ha ha ha… Still, there are some good lines in the film like “[The French} invented democracy, existentialism and the blowjob.” Cohen, while not particularly funny here, does an interesting job portraying a gay Nascar driver. The gawks on commentators’ faces when he introduces his husband are priceless. Sponsor’s wife is lovin’ the wall vibrations, that’s pretty funny. Kenny Rogers scene is kind of funny. Nice use of a Monster Magnet song, “Space Lord”, as well as AC/DC’s “TNT”, and Pat Benatar’s “We Belong”. Biggest car wreck ever. Funny “I want to picture Jesus as a…” running gag as well.
The gag reel shows a great collection of Ricky and Cal’s public service messages: kids on leashes, plastic – the silent killer, cardboard is edible, children reading too early, shopping cart safety, fare safety (kids wrapped in newspaper, sleep in a hammock, don’t drink gasoline), shoplifting’s fun, don’t steal fireworks, packs of stray dogs that control most of the major cities of North America. Interviews with the actors in character are cute and sorta funny.
Here’s the great French version of “Paint It Black” that is shown in the film. Enjoy.