Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

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Talladega Nights:
The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Promotional Poster
Directed by Adam McKay
Produced by Will Ferrell
Judd Apatow
Jimmy Miller
Written by Adam McKay
Will Ferrell
Starring Will Ferrell
John C. Reilly
Sacha Baron Cohen
Leslie Bibb
Michael Clarke Duncan
Gary Cole
Jane Lynch
Amy Adams
Music by Alex Wurman
Cinematography Brent White
Oliver Wood
Editing by Brent White
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) August 4, 2006
Running time Theatrical:
108 min.
Unrated DVD:
121 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $72,500,000
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American comedy film about NASCAR racing. The film is directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote the film with actor and former Saturday Night Live cast member Will Ferrell. Actors involved in the movie include John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amy Adams, Sacha Baron Cohen and Leslie Bibb. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also make appearances.

The film was primarily shot in North Carolina including Charlotte, Huntersville, Cornelius, and Cabarrus and Gaston counties. Additional filming was done at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Racetrack scenes at Texas Motor Speedway were shot at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, using a Chevy El Camino outfitted with camera mounts on all four corners of the car.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tells the story of a NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (Reilly), are a fearless duo—dubbed "Shake 'N' Bake" with the ability to finish most races in first and second place, with Cal always in second. When a homosexual French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Baron Cohen), challenges "Shake 'N' Bake" for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight Girard for the right to be known as racing's top driver.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Ricky Bobby was born to "go fast". He was born in the back seat of his race car-driving father's car in the town of West River, North Carolina. He was raised by his mother Lucy Bobby (Jane Lynch). Reese Bobby (Gary Cole), his alcoholic, pot-dealing father, wasn't around. One morning, while his mother went into the grocery store to "cry and get some milk", Ricky climbed into the driver's seat and, using a whiffle ball bat to press the pedals, took his mama's station wagon on a high-speed joy ride.

After ten years, Ricky finally met his father when he showed up for career day at Ricky's school. He told Ricky, "If you ain't first, you're last", a motto that stuck with Ricky for the rest of his life.

Ricky Bobby never outgrew his love of racing. In 1996, while working on a pit crew as the jackman for a race team (the no. 26 car, sponsored by Laughing Clown Malt Liquor), he replaces an uninterested driver named Terry Cheveaux (McKay) and ends up finishing third despite starting mid-race in last place. Ricky soars to the top of NASCAR very quickly, achieving both fame and fortune with his ride in the no. 26 Wonder Bread car at Dennit Racing. He is able to get a ride for best friend Cal (Reilly), who encouraged him to replace Terry in the first place, in the no. 47 Old Spice car. Ricky uses Cal as the starter of a slingshot move which lets Ricky pass cars easily. His pit crew consists of: crew chief Lucius Washington (Michael Clarke Duncan), a stern African American man; Glenn (Jack McBrayer), who constantly annoys Ricky and Lucius; Kyle (Ian Roberts), who thinks that jazz music sounds like "a tape of somethin' dyin' or something"; and Hershell (David Koechner), a stocky, balding fellow who enjoys fried chicken. While on top of the racing world, Ricky is challenged by a Formula One driver named Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), who is gay. Girard is an effete gay Frenchman (sponsored by Perrier in the no. 55 car) who reads the French existentialist novel The Stranger by Albert Camus and sips macchiato as he races. He also smokes women's cigarettes. Later in the movie it is revealed his horses are actualy gay also.

Girard outperforms Ricky on the track and becomes NASCAR's top driver. Ricky, desperate to regain his dominance, pushes himself too hard and ends up in a spectacular wreck, after which Ricky runs around the track in his underwear, thinking that he is on fire. After this, he persists in the belief that he is paralyzed, though he clearly isn't. During a stay at the hospital, Ricky ends up stabbing himself in the leg to prove that he is paralyzed. Fortunately, Cal and Lucius, visiting Ricky at the hospital, are able to pry the knife out of Ricky's leg with another knife. Though he eventually recovers from his crash, he loses his ride at Dennit Racing after a disastrous testing session, that echoes the wreck prior, where he runs around in his underwear and helmet thinking his teammates are ninjas "trying to get" him. Carley (Bibb), Ricky's wife, yearning to be married to a top NASCAR driver, divorces Ricky before he gets home that night and marries Cal, whom Ricky refused to let finish first in races. Cal then tells Ricky that he's finally getting the chance to become #1, dropping the "Shake 'N' Bake" nickname for "The Magic Man."

Ricky takes his two kids, Walker (Houston Tumlin) and Texas Ranger (Grayson Russell), and moves back home with his mother and takes a job as a pizza delivery driver for Hugalo's Pizza, being reduced to a bicycle after his recent loss of confidence has effectively stopped him from controlling a car, causing him to lose his license. With his life at a lowpoint, Reese suddenly reenters Ricky's life. With the retraining and guidance of his father, Ricky gains his confidence back, but still refuses to race after Reese walks out - and then confesses that he was high when he told Ricky's class "If you ain't first, you're last!". Ricky then runs into his former assistant, Susan (Adams), at a bar. Susan convinces Ricky to get back into racing at the Talladega 500. Susan then professes her love for Ricky, and they end up having sex in the bar, as Ricky warns the other customers to look away, because "we're gonna start making animal noises". Ricky later meets with Jean Girard, who is having tea with Elvis Costello and Mos Def. Girard confesses that he wants to retire to Stockholm with his husband Gregory who is a homosexual. (Andy Richter) to "design a currency for dogs and cats to use", but before he does, he wants Ricky to beat him. However, he refuses to simply let Ricky win. Ricky returns to the track and tells Cal he's sorry for always making him come in second. But Cal is confused by Ricky's "tactics", and vows to "keep actin' tough" until he figures it out.

Will Ferrell at UK premiere of Talladega Nights, Leicester Square
Will Ferrell at UK premiere of Talladega Nights, Leicester Square

Despite being un-sponsored, underfunded, and starting last, Ricky quickly climbs through the field and passes Cal, moving into second place behind Girard. As Ricky unsuccessfully attempts to pass Girard, his former owner orders Cal to wreck Ricky. Cal refuses, and does the traditional slingshot move to get Ricky side by side with Girard. Larry Dennit, Jr., (Greg Germann) the owner of Girard and Naughton's cars, orders his third driver, Brian Wavecrest (who replaced Ricky in the Wonder Bread car), to wreck Cal. The ensuing wreck destroys the rest of the field, leaving only Ricky Bobby and Jean Girard. On the final lap, the two drivers slam into each other numerous times, until they both have a long, spectacular wreck in the tri-oval. So long, in fact, that the race goes to a commercial for Applebee's while the wreck is still taking place. The race's broadcasters, seeming disinterested, declare the race over.

However, Girard and Ricky both get out of their cars and race on foot to the checkered flag, to the tune of Pat Benatar's "We Belong". They both dramatically dive for the finish line. Ricky's fingers cross the line, while Girard comes up a bit short. Girard wishes to shake Ricky's hand, but Ricky kisses him passionately instead. Both drivers are disqualified for leaving their cars during the race and Cal wins the race by finishing third. Ricky and Cal make up, again. Reese watches from the distance, and walks away, satisfied. The family, including Susan, Ricky's new "lady", meets Reese in the parking lot, and all climb into his old Chevelle to go get kicked out of Applebee's.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Box office

The film grossed $47,042,215 in its first week, becoming the #1 film at the box office. It is the second-biggest opening weekend ever for an original comedy, after Bruce Almighty, and the biggest opening for a film starring Will Ferrell. As of February 25, 2007, the film has made an estimated $162,967,452 worldwide.[1]

[edit] DVD release

The film was released on standard DVD and Blu-ray on December 12, 2006. The film is presented on standard DVD in four different configurations, giving consumers the choice between either theatrical or unrated versions and anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1 aspect ratio) or pan & scan presentations. As for the audio, each standard DVD carries Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in English and French with optional English and French subtitles. Extras for the standard DVD editions include a retrospective '25 Years Later' commentary track featuring most of the main cast, deleted and extended scenes along with bonus race footage, featurettes, interviews with Ricky, Cal, and Carley, a gag reel, a 'Line-O-Rama' feature with alternate dialogue from the film, and DVD-ROM content. The unrated discs contain additional deleted scenes ("Cal Calls Ricky" and "What'd You Do Today?"), an interview with Jean and Gregory, and commercials. However, the "Unrated & Uncut" DVD omits two scenes that are present in the theatrical version; the scene where young Ricky steals his mother's station wagon, and the scene which shows what happened to Ricky's pit crew. The scenes are not present in the deleted scenes either.

The Blu-ray release is available on a dual layer disc with the majority of features presented in high definition including: nine deleted/extended scenes, three interviews, gag reel, Line-O-Rama, bonus race footage, Ricky & Cal's Commercials, Ricky & Cal's PSAs, Walker & Texas Ranger, Will Ferrell Returns to Talladega and a theatrical trailer. There are also three extras not presented in high definition: Daytona 500 Spot, NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup Spot, and Sirius and NASCAR Spot. In terms of technical aspects, this edition carries the unrated cut and presents the film with an anamorphic widescreen transfer at its 2.40:1 theatrical aspect ratio and includes Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in English and French and an uncompressed PCM 5.1 audio track in English, along with English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles.

[edit] Trivia

  • NASCAR officials objected to the original title of Talladega Nights, so the working title was then changed to the name of the production company, High, Wide, and Handsome. Loud and Proud also was considered. Following a brief phase in which the movie did not have a title, the film eventually reverted to its original title.
  • When Ricky has his airborne crash in the UAW-GM Quality 500 (the name was changed to the Bank of America 500 in 2006) at Lowe's Motor Speedway, you can see the back-end of the car being completely crushed whiles he's tumbling down the backstretch. But when the car comes to rest upside down, the camera shows a close-up of the back-end, which is still perfectly intact.
  • The car that Resse Bobby drives over the course of the entire film is a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu.
  • The film underwent some controversy when Mr. Steve Fisher filed a lawsuit against Ferrell for allegedly stealing his classic '80's pose from his days as a Camp Jackpine counselor. Ferrell filed a countersuit, claiming that allegations that Fisher provided 'salty' bug juice to his campers was bad for his image. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.
  • Some of the race cars used in the film were housed in a warehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina that formerly held the Interstate Brands Corporation plant, owner of Wonder Bread. As the cars were wrecked, pieces were given to a local shopping center to display.
  • The first 400,000 PlayStation 3 systems included a Blu-ray copy of the movie, a month before the DVD release.
  • Ricky Bobby's driver's license is shown to have been issued on July 16, which is Will Ferrell's birthday. The license also states that Ricky was born on July 16, 1971.
  • In the mini-documentrary about Jean Girard, you can hear Gregory, Jean's husband, refer to the German Shepherds he is training as "Brigitta", "Marta", and "Rolfe the Nazi boyfriend". These are names of characters from The Sound of Music.
  • Cal, Ricky and Girard were all actually introduced during driver introductions at the 2005 UAW Ford 500 at Talladega. Ricky and Cal were cheered, but when Girard was introduced as a driver from France driving the Perrier car, the entire crowd started booing without any prompting. [1]
  • Ferrell's "Anchorman" co-stars Ben Stiller and Steve Carell were originally cast in the film, but they couldn't accept because of scheduling conflicts.
  • Wonder Bread, Old Spice, and Perrier were not charged for their product placement in the movie. Old Spice and Wonder Bread promoted the movie through backend deals while Perrier was not required to take any action despite its presence in the movie. In addition, Ferrell showed up to many public appearances in his Wonder Bread uniform at no additional charge to the company. [2]
  • The film correctly displays the Winston Cup Series logo when the NEXTEL Cup was known by that name. In addition, it also transitions correctly into using the Nextel Cup logo, which was first used at the beginning of the 2004 season. However, near the beginning of the movie, when the flagman waves the flag at Talladega, the Nextel Cup logo is seen painted on the wall. Also, the logo for the UAW Ford 500 can be seen, but in 1996 that race was known as the Winston Select 500. Also, in the beginning of the film, the flagman waves the checkered flag in a flagstand that reads USG Sheetrock 400. This is a race that has always been held at the Chicagoland Speedway, which did not hold its inaugural race until mid-2001. However, several shots meant to be taken place for Talladega races show cars at a different, intermediate track, and vice versa.
  • The race car used in the final race after the crash is a blue Ford Mustang GT with white, over-the-top Indy racing stripes.
  • When asked to be in the film, one Nextel Cup team read the script and declined to participate, saying "It'll set the sport back 25 years."[2]
  • Jamie McMurray, who has a cameo role in the film as himself, currently drives the no. 26 car, which was the number Ricky used in the film.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Box Office Mojo (25 February 2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  2. ^ The Charlotte Observer, October 14, 2005


v • d • e
Mediocre American Man trilogy

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy • Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby • TBA

Will Ferrell • Adam McKay • Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie


[edit] External links

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