Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ***

There is no doubt in my mind that Will Ferrell is one of the funniest actors on the planet at the moment, and he does his best when he is doing his own material. No offense to his previous projects, but when he is working with something that he wrote himself, he inhabits a character that is so unique and so unforgettable. We saw this with "Anchorman," and now he's back again with minor work, but still chock full of laughs of "Talladega Nights."

Instead of satirizing the late 70's news shows, Ferrell takes a spin at NASCAR, playing Ricky Bobby, a mechanic who replaces his driver when in the middle of the race he stops to use the bathroom, eat a chicken sandwich, and make a phone call. All his life he's wanted to go fast. His mother gave birth to him in a speeding car. When he was in his early decade, he stole the car and ended up speeding down the road. And he decides to live his life by the rule that his father told him: If you're not first, you're last. And now, after becoming the top NASCAR race driver there is, Ricky Bobby is living the good life. Sponsored by Wonder Bread, Bobby comes in first every time, and has married a beautiful woman, and given birth to two sons, Walker and Texas Ranger. But his life changes when NASCAR goes French, and Ricky Bobby is put to the test with a new racer, Jean Girard, whose life mission is too destroy Ricky Bobby. He is also gay, and claims that he will leave Ricky Bobby alone forever if he kisses him on the lips. He gets into a horrible car crash, where instead of actually getting hurt, he thinks that he's hurt, and for some time he sits in a wheelchair, convinced that he's paralyzed.

That's sort of the general plot outline. It's hard to really describe, because it's just scene after scene of some of the most madcap, random humor. It's the randomness that really makes it special, and the same goes for "Anchorman." Comedy doesn't always have to have rhyme or reason. It could just happen, leaving you laughing because your scratching your head. John C Reily has some funny supporting work as Ferrell's best friend, whose motto is SHAKE AND BAKE! Again, it comes out of nowhere, but for some reason it works. You could tell that these actors had a good time making this film, and you could also tell that alot of it was improv. This is going to be one of those DVD"s that has over an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, and I really do wonder how much of it was actually scripted. Ferrell is one of the masters of characters. Even when he is playing someone cliche and sappy like in "Kicking and Screaming," he manages to do it with a certain style that only he can pull off. All the acting here is over the top and overblown, but it works in this world. It makes it even funnier than it really is. You have to enjoy this type of humor to really get into "Talladega Nights," and if you do, you're in for a real treat. It's a small step down from "Anchorman," but it's still worth your while.