Synopsis

Ricky Bobby has always dreamed of driving fast. Real fast! Like his father, Reese Bobby, who left the family to pursue his racing dreams. Early on, Ricky's mother, Lucy Bobby worried that her boy was also destined to end up as a professional daredevil on wheels. Ricky Bobby first enters the racing arena as a 'jackman' for slovenly driver Terry Cheveaux and accidentally gets his big break behind the wheel when Cheveaux makes an unscheduled pit stop during a race to gorge on a chicken sandwich. Ricky jumps into the car and so begins the ballad of Ricky Bobby. Ricky Bobby's "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. But as he quickly realizes, in racing, as in life, you have to watch out for the curves. After a frightening crash sends Ricky Bobby to the hospital, he loses his nerve and falls on hard times. His mother reluctantly turns to the only person she can think of to help her son, his estranged father Reese Bobby. His old man still has a few old racing tricks to help Ricky conquer his fear of driving. Ricky Bobby will do anything to find a way back to the top, no matter how many speed bumps life throws his way.

What The Critics Say

"The best of the jokes come from Sacha Baron Cohen whose wonderful caricature of a Camus reading French ace is a joy to behold. The film is packed with jokes about mysterious foreigners and sexual deviancy, and Adam MacKay’s direction is never more than routine. But despite all that, I laughed more than I expected to at this silly yet surprisingly endearing concoction. 3 STARS." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "Ferrell has surrounded himself with outstanding co-stars, including John C Reilly, Amy Adams, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jane Lynch and Gary Cole. Each of them carries on as if this is the movie they've waited a lifetime to make..." James Sanford KALAMAZOO GAZETTE "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is the sort of cheerfully asinine comedy that twists your arm until you submit. So, to Will Ferrell -- clown, freak, bully -- I scream, ``Uncle!" Ferrell co-wrote ``Talladega Nights" with the director Adam McKay." Wesley Morris BOSTON GLOBE "Will Ferrell shines as ego-driven, fast-driving, endorsement-lovin' Nascar driver/buffoon Ricky Bobby." Caroline Kepnes E! ONLINE "Writer/director Adam McKay, who was responsible for "Anchorman", comes up with a few memorable one-liners - including a hilarious stab at Tom Cruise and regular jabs at redneck Americans - but "Talladega Nights" is more of a hit-and-miss comedy. It has plenty of laughs, but they come at big intervals. In the canon of Will Ferrell comedies, "Talladega Nights" sits somewhere in the middle." Mark Beirne BRISBANE WHAT'S ON

"..it's Sacha Baron Cohen who just about steals "Talladega Nights." The British star of "Ali G" fame plays Ricky Bobby's arch-nemesis. His name: Jean Girard. His provenance: France. His sponsor: Perrier. Speaking through a set of nasty-looking, tightly clenched teeth in the faux-est of faux French accents, Cohen is hilarious. The close-up shots of Girard in his car, roaring down the Talladega Speedway, are classic: One time he's daintily sipping a macchiato, the next he's reading Camus. And if being a Gaul isn't alienating enough for the freedom-fries, hetero crowd, Jean Girard also blithely declares that he is gay. 3 STARS." Steven Rea PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER "The film benefits from a strong supporting cast, including a hilariously over-the-top Molly Shannon (a former SNL cast member) as the drunken wife of a chief racing sponsor, Andy Richter as Girard's gay lover, and Amy Adams as Ricky's dedicated assistant." Mark Beirne BRISBANE WHAT'S ON "The cast is great, and when they're in the midst of one of those manic improvisational furies that made Anchorman so funny, 'The Ballad of Ricky Bobby' is a riot." Joshua Tyler CINEMABLEND.COM "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby finds Will Ferrell in top form and in the right big-screen vehicle, delivering one of the funniest movies of the year." Mike McGranaghan AISLE SEAT "Following the commercial, if not critical, success of ANCHORMAN, Will Ferrell stars as the gormless hero of this absurd comedy which, despite all the odds, is actually rather funny. 3 STARS." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES

The Inside Story The genisis of "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby" goes back to when Will Ferrell was working on the comedy "Elf". It was then that he and long time Saturday Night Live friend Adam McKay started talking about making a racing film. "We were in New York City and he was set to take a break before we started work on Anchorman," says McKay. "We noticed how fascinating the world of NASCAR racing had become. It‘s gigantic. We weren't even huge NASCAR fans at the time, but after we started going to the track, we got swept up in the phenomenon." Ferrell and McKay were hooked when future Talladega Nights producer Jimmy Miller invited them to join him at a NASCAR race in Fontana, California. Once they'd experienced the heady sights, smells and sounds of a NASCAR event, they had to make a stockcar racing film. "As soon as we heard the roar of the engines, we knew there was something here to make a movie about," says McKay. "The crowd was huge, like a city, with campers and bonfires outside of every race. I was told that during the Talladega Race [the UAW-Ford 500 at the Talladega Super Speedway] each year, the speedway becomes the second largest city in Alabama." For Ferrell, that fateful day was his first experience OF NASCAR RACING. "I knew a fair amount about NASCAR just because it had grown in popularity," says Ferrell. "I knew some of the top drivers and had a fairly good working knowledge of the sport. But I never understood the intensity of it all until we started writing the character of Ricky Bobby. The challenge for us became writing a movie that was both a comedy and a racing film, because we really wanted the audience to experience the amazing visceral reaction we had had while watching these cars fly around the track at 200 miles per hour." When Will Ferrell came up with the character Bobby Ricky The die was cast. "As soon as Will came up with the voice for Ricky, I was hooked," says McKay. "I told him then that it looked like our lives for the next two years would be dealing with race cars." So who is Ricky Bobby? "Ricky is a typical sports movie character," Ferrell claims. "He came from simple beginnings and, as a boy, enjoyed the need for speed. His motto became "If you ain‘t first, you‘re last", something his daddy taught him early in life. That meant either winning or wrecking, a go-for-broke attitude that eventually would lead to his downfall." The two men now attended NASCAR events whenever they could becoming friends with drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson. When the NASCAR organization came on board all sorts of doors opened to them. "We were very lucky to get NASCAR involved in the movie," says producer Judd Apatow. "We showed them the script early and hoped they would come onboard. If they didn‘t, we would have to come up with a new racing league. But they got it and we were excited that NASCAR could have a sense of humor about it and really allowed us to be a part of their world. During filming, occasionally some guy at NASCAR would pitch us a better joke than we had, and then we were embarrassed that they could ride cars at 150 miles per hour and be funnier than us." "NASCAR approved our sponsors of our fictional drivers cars," says production designer Clayton R Hartley, "which included Terry Cheveau‘s fictional 1996 Laughing Clown Malt liquor stock car, as well as Ricky Bobby‘s contemporary #26 Wonder Bread/POWERade stock car, Cal Naughton Jr's #47 Old Spice stock car and Jean Girard's #55 Perrier stock car. We also knew that we had to come up with designs for all of the cars and purchase the cars themselves. We hired NASCAR designer Sam Bass to help us refine our look and keep it real." Stunt coordinator Andy Gill, who had just worked with NASCAR on "Herbie: Fully Loaded", was brought on-board to work closely with NASCAR to achieve the realism needed for the Talladega Night's exciting races, as well as the breathtaking collisions called for in the script. "I had worked in the NASCAR world and understood the high level of their involvement," says Gill. "They get very involved in every aspect of the film,"he revealled. "You just can‘t throw any car in there and expect it to be okay. It has to have the right look for the right model year. All the designs and sponsor decals have to be in the right places. That kind of coordination would have otherwise been impossible since we were working with 35 cars and wrecking them all the time." Now all they needed were the cast and to secure the right locations for shooting. Charlotte, North Carolina, with its majestic Lowe‘s Motor Speedway, was chosen as the film‘s main location, with the actual Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama slated as well. Now they needed to find a cast who could improvise. "I think how Adam and Will work is brilliant," says Sacha Baron Cohen. "Will is such an amazing improviser. He has the ability to take any scene in a totally different direction. He‘s so earnest and always so in character that it is incredibly easy to improvise with him." Two actors who were surprisingly very talented at improvisation were Oscar® nominee John C Reilly ("Chicago") and former model Leslie Bibb who is a regular on TV's "Crossing Jordan". "We had actually offered John a part in 'Anchorman', but he couldn‘t take it because he had committed to working with Martin Scorsese on The Aviator," recalls McKay. "He was so funny, he blew us away. So when we wrote this film, we knew we had to find a role for him. He is incredible, a revelation. We were amazed at how well he did with improvisation." And Leslie Bibb? "Leslie did so well improvising with Will, we immediately knew she was right for the part,“ says McKay. "But the character of Carley Bobby is a blonde bombshell, and when Leslie read for us she was dressed down and a short haircut. Once we saw her in all of her blonde glory, with the sunglasses and the tight jeans, we were shocked at her transformation." Working on the film brought back memories of her childhood says Bibb. "When I was a kid, we went to the Daytona 500 in Florida," she said. "I remember my Mom getting a picture of herself with [former NASCAR champion] Richard Petty." With casting finished it was time for Ferrell, Reilly and Baron Cohen to go to driving school. They were sent to Lowe's Motor Speedway to learn how to race a car on the track. With instructors from the Richard Petty Driving Experience, these Hollywood novices quickly found themselves behind the wheel of a powerful NASCAR race car. But before they did any driving themselves they had to ride alongside a real racing driver doing laps at speeds up to 180 miles an hour. So how did they would-be racers fare? "The first thing they do is have you ride shotgun with a real NASCAR driver at about 180 miles an hour around the track. It was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life," admits Sacha Baron Cohen. The riding shotgun experience behind them, the three went out on their own. Well almost! "We did about eight or nine laps following a pace car," says Ferrell. "They taught us how to take a line on the track, how to approach curves. I think I was going about 135 miles an hour. You kinda‘ get hooked right away." For writer/director McKay it was a different experience. "As soon as we heard those engines roar, we all turned into terrified chickens," he laughs. "When we got to drive, though it was exhilarating taking the curves and banking at a 45 degree angle. It was like climbing a wall, truly insane, because they tell you to accelerate into the bank, but your natural instinct is to slow down." So who was the best driver? "Reilly, ultimately won the right to be called the world's fastest actor," according to Ferrell. "I think John got up to 143 miles an hour. Ferrell admits the three guys had a secret goal. What was it? He says it was "to beat Britney Spears, who had once gone 112 miles an hour. Fortunately, we all did." The Verdict "Will Ferrell has turned his hand to a trick Adam Sandler employs, surround yourself with stars who are more funny than you are. In his latest film Ferrell's character, stockcar racer Ricky Bobby looses his nerve and falls on hard times. When it comes to being funny, Ferrell falls on hard times hardly raising a good laugh. What saves the film is the excellent racing segments, standout performances from John C Reilly, Gary Cole, Molly Shannon, Leslie Bibb and the inimitable Sacha Baron Cohen. Ferrell fans will lap every moment up of "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby", but those who aren't fans will probably be sitting there wondering what the hell they were thinking. Ferrell highlights are definately that cougar scene and his period of paralyzation after a bad accident. Stay for the out-takes at the end. For this dedicated Will Ferrell fan "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby" was good fun, but nothing to rave about. 3 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "TALLADEGA NIGHTS: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby" stars .......
Will Ferrell ["Zoolander", "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy", "Melinda and Melinda", "The Wedding Crashers" and "The Producers"]; John C Reilly ["Chicago Cab", "Never Been Kissed", "Gangs of New York", "Chicago", "The Hours" and "The Aviator"]; Michael Clarke Duncan ["The Green Mile", "Sin City", "The Island" and "School for Scoundrels"]; Leslie Bibb ["Private Parts", "The Skulls" and "See Spot Run"]; Amy Adams ["Drop Dead Gorgeous", "Serving Sara" and "Catch Me If You Can"]; Molly Shannon ["Return to Two Moon Junction", "Never Been Kissed", "The Santa Clause 2" and "American Splendor"]; Sacha Baron Cohen ["The Jolly Boys' Last Stand", "Ali G Indahouse" and "Spyz"] and Gary Cole ["I'll Be Home for Christmas", "The Gift", "One Hour Photo" and "The Ring Two"] as Reese Bobby.
"TALLADEGA NIGHTS: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby" was .......
directed by Adam McKay ["Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"]; screenplay by Will Ferrell ["A Night at the Roxbury" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"] and Adam McKay ["Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"]; director of photography Oliver Wood ["Die Hard 2", "Face/Off", "The Bourne Identity", "The Bourne Supremacy" and "Fantastic Four"]; costume design by Susan Matheson ["Family Attraction", "Crazy/Beautiful", "Blue Crush" and "Friday Night Lights"] produced by Judd Apatow ["The Cable Guy", "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy", "Kicking & Screaming" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"] and Jimmy Miller ["Elf" and "Kicking & Screaming"]. Run Time 108 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Sony Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved