Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

This may be the most consistently funny Will Ferrell vehicle yet. He plays Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR driver with major daddy issues and a lifelong need for speed. When a racetrack wipeout leaves him dispirited and afraid of speed, his long last daddy (an unbelievably funny Gary Cole) shows up to give him life lessons, including how to drive a car with a cougar trying to eat you. Outlandish, offbeat, and acted by people who know what’s funny, I can honestly say the movie didn’t have one clunker joke. it had me laughing from start to finish. The supporting cast of Cole, John C. Reilly (as Ricky’s dimwitted buddy) and Sacha Baron Cohen is first-rate, as good as the supporting roster for Anchorman (Ferrell’s other collaboration with this film’s director, Adam McKay). Cohen plays Ricky’s French racing nemesis, and this movie establishes him as one of the best character actors working today (he’s been killing me with Da Ali G Show) and gets us primed for Borat later this year. This is Will Ferrell’s best and a great return to form after a couple of stinkers (Bewitched, Kicking and Screaming).