Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby Goes Nowhere Fast

     Will Ferrell needs to stop making goofy comedies. His shtick works sometimes, as in A Night at the Roxbury and Elf, but mostly it winds up being fatally annoying, as in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and, now, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. His track record just isn’t great enough for him to keep doing this to audiences. As it turns out – the dumber the title, the dumber the movie.

      Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby wouldn’t be nearly as bad as it actually is if it weren’t so choppy. Much like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, this flick is likely to have a DVD loaded with unused extras – some of which are prone to being funnier than the material that made the final cut. The result is a movie that was edited with a heavy hand and, because of that, it feels more like a series of sketches tied together with a very loose plot than a real live motion picture.

      Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby stars Ferrell as the title character, Ricky Bobby, the number one NASCAR champion. All is well with the victor – who has a beautiful wife named Carley, played by Leslie Bibb, a faithful friend and teammate named Cal, played by John C. Reilly, and two alpha-male sons named Walker and Texas Ranger – until a French Formula One driver named Jean Girard, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, enters the scene.

     Suddenly, everything is taken away from Ricky Bobby, including (or so he thinks) his ability to use his legs. With nowhere else to go, Ricky Bobby and his two rebellious sons head home to his mother, played by Jane Lynch. Eventually, his long-lost father, played by Gary Cole, returns to his life and tries to get Ricky Bobby to get back on the horse… or at least back behind the steering wheel.

      Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy worked in a few ways since it was, above all, an ensemble comedy. There was witty banter and a variety of characters while in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby we get one guy – Ricky Bobby – and numerous tiny supporting roles. NASCAR fans may get a kick out of the way the movie deals with advertising and product placement but everyone else, including most Ferrell fans, won’t be too pleased.