Anne & I got to go to a free screening of Talladega Nights yesterday at the Lennox, thanks to our friend Lindsey hooking us up with some tickets. WARNING: There may be spoilers ahead, but minor ones. I do my best to not give much away, but really… nothing major happens in this movie that is going to “ruin” it for you anyway, you big baby.
Overall it was a pretty good movie. I enjoyed Anchorman, but I’m usually not a huge fan of dumb comedy. Will Ferrell seems to do a pretty good job of having a unique enough premises to his movies to make them stand out from the rest of the crap even if the story cycle is pretty standard at best, and overly predictable.
The Good : The supporting cast. I kind of expected to see some phoned-in cameos by Owen & Luke Wilson, Steve Carell, Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, but none of them were there. Instead we’re treated to great performances by Jane Lynch, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, John C. Reilly, David Koechner, Jack McBrayer (Yes, I actually recognized him from his small bit in Arrested Development. That is how big of an A.D. junkie I am.), Amy Adams, Andy Richter, and of course… Sacha Baron Cohen. I had no idea he was even in this movie until the credits started rolling. When I saw his character in the previews I actually thought it was Steve Coogan for some reason. Anyway, Sacha is awesome, and couldn’t have made a better villain/rival for Ricky Bobby.
The only dumb cameo is by Molly Shannon. She had one funny bit and the rest of her screen-time was a waste of celluloid. Ugh.
There’s one scene in the whole film that really stands out for me, and that was the “knife in the leg” scene. As seen in the trailer, Ricky Bobby sticks a knife in his leg while in the hospital, and the scene that follows completely flips the directorial aspect around into this shaky handheld cam rapidly moving from person to person to capture bits and pieces of people’s expressions, their lines, and their actions. It felt like a high-quality home-made video you’d see on the internet. Two dudes trying to pin down a third and pry a knife out of his leg. It was hilarious, but painfully realistic to watch at the same time. The rest of the direction and camera work is pretty standard. There are comedy shots, action shots, and a sprinkling of dramatic shots. All very standard and while they don’t add anything special to the movie in that aspect, they also don’t distract from the jokes.
And the jokes are mostly good. A lot of it comes in the form of rapid banter, which is great. I prefer it much more than the weaker “stereotype” jokes… where the frenchman has an outrageous accent, or the southerners act like dumb rednecks. But that stuff is mostly minimal. The comedy is well written for the most part.
Really, my only big complaint about the movie is the over-the-top patriotism embedded in the movie, almost to the point of exploitation. They could have been much more subtle about Ricky Bobby representing all that is good about America, but instead they decided to take it to the extreme. Is it really necessary to have Ricky Bobby’s rival be a french guy? Does that add anything to the story at all? I think all it does is further perpetrate the idea that France is somehow the “enemy” of the United States in the backs of the minds of the people who are going out to watch “That NASCAR movie with the SNL guy in it”. And from a comedy standpoint… it’s old. Making fun of the French is sooooo 2003. If you’re still getting a hearty guffaw out of ordering “Freedom Fries” at every drive through window then you are a sad sad individual.
But really, that’s a minor complaint, and I’m sure you probably won’t hear it from too many of your friends who go to see this movie. So yeah, go watch it yourself. Perhaps not at full price at the theater, but it’s definitely worth $4-5 for a matinee or a rental in six months.
(out of five)