Taking The Green: “Talladega Nights” Opens Nationwide Today

Sony Pictures’ “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” opens nationwide today. The movie is directed by Adam McKay and stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen. THE DAILY presents a round-up of reviews for the film.

COMPLETE SPOOF OF NASCAR: In a special to the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage writes “Talladega Nights” “pokes fun at every stereotype in racing. ... There are more in-depth racing nuances in the movie, too. Ricky dresses, stands and even says things like ... Dale Earnhardt. He and teammate Cal Naughton Jr. [Reilly] wear the stereotypical NASCAR-issued long sideburns. Even the ‘Jr.’ in Naughton’s name is a racing spoof” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 8/4). In Houston, Amy Biancolli: “The movie spoofs just about everything it’s possible to spoof: NASCAR racers, NASCAR fans, Southern accents, winning-obsessed machismo and Tom Cruise. The targets are obvious, and the plot droops at its midsection, but most of the humor is so off-center and absurd that it schwings with originality” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/4). On Long Island, Stephen Williams: “Ferrell’s interpretation of the title role -– a caricature of the good ol’ boy stock car champ, complete with gorgeous blond wife and two kids named Walker and Texas Ranger -– might go over the heads of some NASCAR fans ... but it’ll play well in this neck of the woods” (NEWSDAY, 8/4). In Jacksonville, Matt Soergel writes the film “often feels like little more than an extended riff on the You Might Be A Redneck If routine. But that’s fine: It’s worked for Jeff Foxworthy for umpteen years, after all” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 8/4).

WE KID BECAUSE WE CARE: In Chicago, Richard Roeper calls the movie “a wicked send-up, but there’s also a genuine affection for the sport and the people who live and breathe it” (SUN-TIMES, 8/4). In Boston, Wesley Morris: “The movie isn’t a mean-spirited rag on NASCAR or its fans. ... It’s a goof on the macho corniness of the racing movie” (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/4). In Atlanta, Eleanor Ringel Gillespie gives the film a “B+” and writes, “The script has great fun with certain NASCAR clichés, but it never condescends to the sport or its fans” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/4). In Sacramento, Carla Meyer: “The ribbing of NASCAR culture ... doesn’t go so far that it would alienate millions of fans eager to see their sport on screen” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 8/4). In Denver, Robert Denerstein: “The movie negotiates a tricky curve: Its antics are so obviously ridiculous that it’s difficult to imagine NASCAR fans (or anyone else) taking offense” (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 8/4). In L.A., Bob Strauss gives the film three stars and writes, “No wonder NASCAR cooperated with this production that makes fun of the organization’s many absurdities; it might just attract whole new demographic groups to the ravenous sports-entertainment empire” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 8/4).

Many Feel Movie Shows NASCAR Has Sense Of Humor

GOING TOO FAR: In DC, Teresa Wiltz writes the film “doesn’t do much more than go for the quick guffaw, and frequently the guffaw comes from stereotypical slights along the redneck vein” (WASHINGTON POST, 8/4). In Milwaukee, Duane Dudek wonders, “Do NASCAR fans have a sense of humor? Because the joke is on them.” Ricky Bobby is a “hideous hick with sideburns and a soul patch in a Crystal Gayle T-shirt. He is so enamored of corporate sponsorship that he endorses tampons and prune candy, plasters a logo on his car’s front windshield where it obscures his vision, and is contractually obligated to mention PowerAde whenever he says grace before dinner” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/4). In Memphis, John Beifuss writes the “dumbed-down ‘Talladega’ squanders opportunity for hilarity.” Beifuss: “The brand-name brandishing –- an unavoidable subject in a NASCAR comedy -– is so relentless that at one point the action stops dead for a literal commercial; the moment is supposed to be funny, but the fact that [McKay] inserts several seconds of actual ad time for an actual business should make most moviegoers feel like suckers” (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 8/4). In Detroit, Tom Long writes, “The questions will be: A. Are NASCAR fans so stupid they won’t realize they’re being made fun of; B. Are NASCAR fans so smart they’ll be able to take the ribbing and laugh; or C. Do NASCAR fans go to movies or do they just watch cars go around and around and around?” (DETROIT NEWS, 8/4).

BRIDGING THE CULTURAL DIVIDE: In N.Y., A.O. Scott writes the film is “happy to mock the sport’s eagerness to sell prime uniform and chassis space to sponsors.” Ferrell is the “brand that powers this ragged, intermittently uproarious fusion of sketch-comedy goofing and driving around in circles” (N.Y. TIMES, 8/4). In Philadelphia, Steven Rea gives the movie three stars and writes it is “at once a glorious send-up of NASCAR culture and a goofy celebration of the redneck, red state, red-blooded American culture that spawned it” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/4).

NOT REALLY ABOUT RACING: In Richmond, Daniel Neman writes “Talladega Nights” is “not really a movie about racing. It is more of an excuse for Ferrell to act silly and stupid for an hour and a half. ... The racing is no more interesting than it was in ‘Days of Thunder’” (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 8/4). In Charlotte, Lawrence Toppman: “Though the setting is NASCAR, ‘Talladega’ has as much to do with that subject as ‘Anchorman’ did with TV” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/4). In West Palm Beach, Hap Erstein gives it a “C-” and writes it is “virtually the same movie [as ‘Anchorman’], with only the setting changed from local television news to NASCAR racing” (PALM BEACH POST, 8/4).

RACE SCENES: The L.A. TIMES’ Rachel Abramowitz writes cinematographer Oliver Wood “make[s] the driving sequences look splashy and authentic” (L.A. TIMES, 8/4). DAILY VARIETY’s Robert Koehler writes McKay displays a “strong grip on his actors and camera, he gets the grit, heat and feel of NASCAR racetracks with a near-documentary sensibility.” Aided by Wood’s widescreen filming, CG racetrack and car crash effects, it is “enough to make Jerry Bruckheimer envious” (DAILY VARIETY, 8/4).

THUMBS UP: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Joe Morgenstern writes, “‘Talladega Nights’ wins big. It’s funny enough to redeem the movie summer.” The racing scenes are “impressive when that’s appropriate ... and preposterous when the comic muse demands it” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/4). USA TODAY’s Claudia Puig gives the movie three out of four stars and writes while it “overall is uneven and Ricky Bobby’s saga lacks focus, the stupid-comical banter and the lampooning of this particular brand of car racing proves entertaining” (USA TODAY, 8/4). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Sheri Linden wrote there is plenty of “genre-bending goofiness on display, and between the NASCAR faithful and Ferrell’s fans, ‘Talladega’ is primed to take the boxoffice flag”
(HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/31). In St. Pete, Steve Persall noted Ferrell and McKay “tapped into something unique, an affectionate joshing of NASCAR stereotypes and episodic Hollywood biopics. They always aim low and frequently score high” (ST. PETE TIMES, 8/3). The DETROIT NEWS’ Long: “Those outside the NASCAR scene will find themselves laughing aloud throughout this film” (DETROIT NEWS, 8/4). The L.A. TIMES’ Abramowitz adds “Talladega Nights” is a “cheerily demented look inside the world of NASCAR” (L.A. TIMES, 8/4).

Majority Of Reviews Call “Talladega Nights” A Winner

THUMBS DOWN: In N.Y., Kyle Smith writes the movie “makes a weird decision to take Ricky off the track for a long stretch -– there are about 10 consecutive scenes in which he wrestles with his motivation -– and the story starts to sag.” Also, some “very funny scenes ... roll on longer than the Daytona 500” (N.Y. POST, 8/4). In Boston, James Verniere gives the film a “C+” and writes scenes where Ferrell “runs around the racetrack almost inexplicably in his underwear smell of desperation.” Also, Cohen “mostly misfires as Jean Girard, Ricky’s arch rival, a driver who is both French and gay, two things guaranteed to drive NASCAR crowds to reach for their pitchforks” (BOSTON HERALD, 8/4). In Toronto, Rick Groen gives it two-and-a-half stars and writes “NASCAR culture “is a big part of the populist terrain. This leaves Ferrell and company with a choice, whether to treat the trend as a lucrative path to follow or a fat target to satirize. ... They do a little of both and not enough of either” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 8/4). The AP’s Christy Lemire: “Like the sport it spoofs, the movie has its thrilling moments, but mostly feels repetitive” (AP, 8/4). In Minneapolis, Colin Covert: “It runs a good joke into the ground with its never-ending references to NASCAR’s in-your-face sponsorship deals” (STAR TRIBUNE, 8/4).