Disclaimer: I don’t much care for Will Ferrell.
I didn’t have many expectations coming into Talladega Nights, mostly because of the disclaimer above. I’ve seen Anchor Man, Old School, Zoolander the BOSNL disks and found very little that wasn’t passé by 5th grade in Ferrell’s arsenal. If this makes me sound like I have a stick up my ass and I don’t really know how to have a good time then so be it. I know a few people who thoroughly enjoy Ferrell’s antics, I even think some of them are reasonably intelligent people, I just don’t happen to be one of them. Besides a good laugh at Eleanor Roosevelt’s spurious quote to open the film and a few of the PSA’s, I had to remind myself that this was a comedy consistenty throughout the movie. The plot was as fresh as a driver’s jock after lap 700 and the vast majority of the jokes laboured harder than a wound-out big block V-8 trying to pass to the outside. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Jean Girard managed to finagle a smile from time to time solely on the tenacity of his ridiculous French accent and TR reminded me of my second cousin from Greensboro, but in general I found very little to salvage from this wreck of a movie. If you are a die-hard Ferrellite you’ll probably love the flick, but I found myself glad to start cleaning my apartment ¾ through it. The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was more a dirge for me.
Grade: C
5 comments:
Posted and roasted. An excellent assessment.
Well, stated and I agree completely ... there was a reason that I skipped this film in the theaters.
Oh, the point of the film hadn't escaped me. Like I said, maybe it was my anti-Ferrellness that tained the experience for me, I just think there are much better and more interesting ways to explore rich and unique rural culture of America than 5 min. Baby Jesus prayers, sleazy trophy wives and bratty kids. See: My Name is Earl . . . or Deliverance.
I guess the short response is my displeasure wasn't with the subject matter, it was with the substance. The plot was uninventive and the film didn't seem to invest the time or effort to adequately lampoon a culural subset that has a lot more to say for it than what the writers cared to explore. But maybe it was over my head or too close to my own nose to see clearly; consider me shook and baked, or whatever.
We're so close to a blog war. I'm excited. I haven't been part of a blog war in over a year.
It'll be my first, pacifist that I am.
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