Pajiba

I'm glad this seems to be getting generally positive reviews. Looks like Ferrell might indeed still have appeal and continue cranking out some of the funniest comedies around. After some recent travesties I thought his time was up.

Great review as always.

I don't like to think of Will Ferrell's brand of comedy as a higher-brow Adam Sandler; I like to think of him as a low-brow Christopher Guest.

THAT'S IT! Thank you for articulating what I never have been able to.

This will probably be a rental, because by the time I have a chance to go to theatre "Little Miss Sunshine" will finally be here - but there's nothing wrong with another fun rental. I wonder if it's too early to put it on the Netflix queue?

I think you are a bit mouthy. all that wordiness just to freakin say you like Will Ferrell and his same ole antics. Must be fun at your house at dinner.

Will Ferrell IS a one trick pony. He was born without the gene of self-consciousness. He can say or do absolutely anything and make you believe it because he is unable to feel foolish or ashamed. With the spate of comic and cartoon based movies out these days I expect Mr. Ferrell to star in the big screen live-action adaptation of Terrytoon's Baby Huey I can see it now...130 minutes of Ferrell running around Manhattan in nothing but a diaper, bib and baby bonnet... "I'd like to Thank the Academy for beliving in me...ga ga goo goo!"

Oh, and as far as McMansions go, There ain't nothing like a Mcmansion coupled with a blue-state sense of superiority and entitlement.

I have to say that I am probably still going to see this for the 'make fun of the yokels' portions (due to an unfortunate circumstances, I am semi-related to a ton of people who dig the NASCAR stuff, Larry the Cable Guy, etc.) But I will likely save my theatre money for 'Little Miss Sunshine.' To echo Edith, this one's going to be a rental.
As for Will Ferrell.... I stumbled across a trailer for an upcoming film 'Stranger Than Fiction.' Which looks much more interesting that this ever did. My only concern is that it will be Will Ferrell's 'Truman Show.'

Hello Paul. Welcome to Pajiba. Feel free to eat dinner at your own house all alone.

Great review as always, on a variety of related (and unrelated) films. Such an unrewarding summer...
Oh, and Paul, please go read some Classic Comics and don't bother the rest of us. Thnks.

I bet you Will Ferrell could play an incredible serial killer. Think of it--Calmly delivering lines of lethal casualness, watching intently as his victims suffer the limits of his twisted imagination...sometimes he smiles gently.

Yelling isn't funny. Dane Cook please note.
Why does Will Ferrell persist in allowing his pasty, pudgy body to be exhibited? It is to barf.

I know what you meant about playing an incredible serial killer. I can't say I like Will Farrell, he seems to have no soul.

Sounds like you don't exactly like Will Ferrell all that much either, and trying to justify it to everyone else with all the wordiness and comparison to the other inane films he's done...I don't like him much either, I found Anchorman totally stupid and the one time I found Will enjoyable was in Melinda and Melinda, he played Woody Allen's schtick very well and I wish he would do more of that then all the other stupid roles he does. I think many people cut him too much slack, he was WAY better on SNL then in his movies, which I'll give him that much, are better than Rob Schneider's, but not by much.

Saw the movie tonight. Loved it. Well, all but the last 15 minutes or so. I actually left with a migraine because the ending was beyond ridiculously stupid. I'll HAVE to see it again, though; I missed so many good jokes because everyone was laughing too loud to hear anything.

"I got it at Target.... on sale!"

Besides the ending, a very entertaining movie.

Wow, five paragraphs of analysis on Will Ferrell! I'll stick to WSJ for my film reviews.

Ugh. Comprehensive review, bad movie. The jarring script avers between lame jokers, lamer jokes, lamest jokes, and then great jokes.

All in all, I'd have to say the best part of the movie is the gag reel over the credits.

And why wasn't Andy Richter's roll bigger?

so, I mostly agree with this review, but I was more dissapointed with it. Maybe my hopes were too high, but this seemed like it was made in the footsteps of "anchorman". when I walked out of the theater, there was something about it that just didn't sit right. there were some extremely hillarious scenes in there, but they lacked the magic of "Anchorman". Plus, I happen to be from an extremely rural area, and the audience was really mostly made up of the people the movie intended to mock, so a lot of the jokes that at least made me giggle played to a silent audience. I miss Ron.

I saw this movie last night and LOVED IT! I am one of the few that loves Will Ferrell but didn't really like Anchorman. Yes there are some great quotes but I own the movie and can't sit through the whole thing. Talladege Nights was hilarious mostly from beginning to end with the exception of about 20 minutes near the end where it got a little too serious for it's own good. I will definitely see this again, probably in the theater. I'm sure many will say that the jokes are too stupid to be funny and blah blah blah but I laughed out loud for at least and hour and a half and that's good enough for me!

I haven't seen the movie yet, but as I was a huge fan of Anchorman, and of Ferrell in general, I am looking forward to it.

First of all, I always enjoy Pajiba reviews simply BECAUSE they are different from the rest. The sometimes long-winded rants are a welcome departure from the Joel Siegel "if it has Whoopi Goldberg or cute kids in it I LOVED IT! WOW!" style of review. If you get bored reading, or don't have the patience for, a review written for the internet, maybe you're life is moving too fast.

Anyway, I agree that Ferrell is low-brow Christopher Guest. I like other commenters was trying to figure out his exact place on the comedy spectrum.

What I think infuriates some of your commenters about him is not that he is one-note (he isn't. Each one of his characters from "Get off the shed" to Ricky Bobby requires a lot of focus to be that immersed in character).

It's the type of wake he leaves. As a long-time Ferrell fan, I am embarrassed that his movies and most popular SNL characters are quoted 23 hours a day by frat boys in sweatshirts and polo shirts underneath walking down the street drunk yelling "You're my boy, blue!" or "We're goin' streaking!". Hipsters hate nothing more. Except maybe the same frat boys screaming "Lost in Translation" quotes. That would cheese them good...

I think Ferrell is great and I think people get disappointed when he isn't a caricature. Oh well, to hell with hipsters.

Were it not for the strain of rampant, random homophobia, I might have enojyed the movie more. There were really funny parts ("8 pound, 6 ounce baby Jesus. . . "), but the whole gay plot was completely unnecessary.

I'm not sure that Ferrell is a low-brow Christopher Guest. Maybe a less versatile Christopher Guest. I love Guest. LOVE him. But I'm not sure he's as high-brow as people think. He's a talented caricature artist. I think you can only be so intellectual if your talent is selecting the mockable characteristics of others and accentuating them. It's not like Guest creates worlds or teaches great lessons. That's not an indictment, I'm just not sure that the fact that intellectual people laugh at his stuff makes Guest intellectual; I think it means that he makes fun of things that intellectuals like to laugh at and does it well.

To the review: as the resident conservative(ish person) in the comment section, I think it's interesting that when we get to religious nuts and "red staters", it's damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, even though it's been done and done and done, but make fun of a Frenchman and we're exposing ugly American prejudices. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I would bet that Cohen's role is supposed to be the ultimate redneck vision of the foreigner, making the parody bend back against the rednecks rather than attack the French. It's also worth noting that Cohen's presence isn't so incongruous as you might guess; I'm thinking he's probably there to be the to-11 version of the German in Driven (I know. It was just on and I couldn't move, I swear).

I live about three miles away from Lowes Motor Speedway, as Charlotte is the NASCAR homebase, and it was pure Hell during the big races. "Cars" made its debut at the Speedway and I got a hefty double-dose of rednecks that week. ...That being said, I can't wait to see if the aforementioned rednecks realize this movie is poking fun at them. During the previews, so many of them were completely oblivious to this fact!

I don't understand why people are calling this movie homophobic. It was making fun of homophobia, not homosexuality!

Overall I thought this was the best comedy I've seen for a while. How the hell can you beat "Hi, my name's Ricky Bobby. If you don't chew Big Red then fuck you!"

I absolutely love the fact that you referenced McSweeney's. And I love the reviews - keep 'em coming!

I get very offended by homophobia, and this movie didn't bother me at all. I agree with Nat, that the movie mocked homophobia more than homosexuality.

I really enjoyed the movie, and agree that the end dragged a little, but that's so typical of comedies because they have to start to make sense to wrap the movie up with a decent conclusion.
Anyways...."I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!!"

Agreed. I'm gay as a goose (and way too over-sensitive sometimes) and I didn't consider this movie homophobic in the least. It satirized homophobia, and while I'm willing to venture that about 99% of the hillbillies in the theater along with me didn't get that, I didn't have any issue with it. (Not comparing you to hillbillies, Kelly, just pointing out audience reaction where I was). I actually laughed out loud quite a few times during the movie, although it could have been a little shorter.

The cable show "Driving Force" is far and away better satire on the NASCAR culture than this movie, and all the better for being unintentional on the part of its real life family( but maybe not on the part of the producers).
John Force, the drag racing champion, is about as screwed up as you can get and still be a redneck. He and his wife are still married but she won't let him live in his house, says she can only stand him for a few hours at a time. They didn't have any boys, so his daughters race in those flaming coffins and inevitably will be smashed to bits or horribly disfigured, but it doesn't seem to bother any of them or mom and pop.

There were long stretches without a laugh. Definetely not Anchorman but the funny parts were really funny.

uh, dustin, there WAS no french character in The Incredibles. If you're thinking of that designer or something with the funny accent, she was supposed to have a german/japanese accent. Don't ask me why I know this or how that's supposed to really sound..yeah.

uh, dustin, there WAS no french character in The Incredibles.

I'm assuming Dustin was referring to "Bomb Voyage," the villain who Mr. Incredible fails to apprehend in the opening scene because he's arguing with Buddy....

You let this slide, yet slam Life Aquatic every chance you get?

white trash humor went out in 1999

I loved Anchorman but this movie was awful. Filled with lame jokes and a pointless story. I honestly tried to fall asleep to get it over with.

Hey, Laura-Kathleen, I live in Charlotte (a west coast transplant) and was wondering as well how this movie would play with the locals. Lawrence Toppman's Observer review griped about the writing/direction/acting but didn't get into the NASCAR culture spoof much. My guess is this pig will either die quickly here or still be playing at Christmas. It's hard to tell with these folks.

As for Ferrell, I caught "Old School" on cable and kept wishing he wasn't in it. And I watched "Anchorman" to see what the fuss was about. I found myself wanting to yell "CUT!" about half way into most scenes (the flute solo, the gang fight, etc.) as they beat the jokes to death. Knowing when to move on to the next thing is key in comedy. The Ferrell/McKay formula is apparently to keep flogging the gag until the very last doper in the theatre stops giggling.

Christensen -- must be fate; I'm a West Coast transplant too! ...Seriously, I had to go to Concord Mills to catch it during the 10:55 showing, and about eight rednecks stormed out of the theatre because they saw two men kiss. Not kidding at all.

Wouldn't mind talking to you outside of Pajiba!

fucking wonderful weekend everyone. when all these reviews come together like this it makes me feel all weird and warm inside. despite the poor review of miami vice, which i thought deserved a slightly more analytical approach if not something more than a few short paragraphs... we all know how far and tried Mann's preferred genre has come, this summer has proved to be pajibtastic. mwah.

Author's Note: Thanks, Brandt. And, as always, we do it for you, man. We do it for you.

I love it when libs like Dustin Rowles try to find meaning and substance in mindless pablum like "Ricky Bobby"; dude, it's just another dumbass Will Ferrell movie!!!
It wasn't meant to be seen in an art house theater!!!

Dustin, I will battle you to the death for the title of "Amy Adams's #1 Fan." I agree though, that she was totally wasted in this movie. She had approximately 1.3 lines until the last third of the movie, and the sexual chemistry/tension between her and Ferrell was never developed.

Oh, and the plain, shy girl in glasses gimmick isn't fooling anyone. We all know Ms. Adams is a stone cold fox.

You know, it's funny, even with a good (well...relatively speaking) review, I still don't want to see anything involving NASCAR, or car racing for that matter. I loved Anchorman, but come on...red necks are more believable as scary than funny.

"I can think of, Ferrell's comedic success seems to be inversely proportional to his level of coherence; and, in that way, I suppose that makes him George W. Bush of Hollywood -- a guy whose appeal lies mysteriously within his obliviousness."

I suppose that makes Dustin Rowles the Ricky Bobby of bloggers?

I am glad a movie review can be tactful. I am glad to hear opinions of this movie and read the comments. I am also a huge Amy Adams fan. (It took me forever to figure out she is the hot chick selling handbags on "The Office")but will NEVER see this movie, or any other movie Will Farrell is in. He tries way to hard to be funny, and I think he should stick to Jepoardy parodies and other SHORT comedy sketches. the only thing I dislike more than two hours of Will Farrell is NASCAR.

Wow, the people on this site take themselves very seriously with all of their pseudo-intelellectual ramblings. Movies, like art, food, wine, music is about 85-90% subjective. Will Ferrell is making a ton of money doing these "types" of roles. Wishing that you could see him doing more like "Melinda and Melinda" is hilarious. Why? To appease the eight people that saw that film? I'm sure he likes the "art" side of cinema, but maybe after he's bankrolled a hundred million, or so. Get a grip.

I also love the people that stop by just to iterate how much they loathe Will and NASCAR. Gosh, thanks that is really adding to the review of this movie. The fact that you can't suspend reality for a couple of hours and enjoy what is meant to be a complete nonsensical parody tells me you should have another glass of merlot and wait for the next Woody Allen movie. Then you can write in and mention how highbrow it is and the complete antithesis of Will Farrell and Adam Sandler and that you're happy and warm in your Brooks Brothers getup.

And last, but not least for the "West Coast" transplants, puhlease. I get the impression you "North Bay'ers" probably view "rednecks" as anyone living East of the Bay Bridge. I too am transplanted from the West Coast, but find middle American 1000 times more "real" than the plasticians from the Left Coast. Good riddance. Have a great day everyone, and thanks for the review!

Hey, David -- I'm from Los Alamitos Naval housing, thank you very much, and I am only 19 years old so it's not like you are going to catch me sipping lattes at a nudist art show or something.

I moved away when I was about seven or eight, and I've lived in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas since then. That's well over half my life spent AWAY from my native coast. Let me tell you about my view of rednecks:

The town I lived in [Hertford, NC] has less than 2000 citizens and most of the "younger crowd" are about as redneck as you can get. In fact, they are proud of this. I've seen more Confederate flags flying in front of homes than American flags. I've seen a guy shoot a deer from a convenience store doorway, then drive over to the churchyard it died in to drag the poor thing to his truck. On the first day of hunting season, school is closed. You can call someone a "dirty nigger sonofabitch" at my high school and get away with it, but get suspended for wearing a Malcom X t-shirt. The boys who enlisted in the Army post 9/11 didn't want to defend the country, they wanted to "get 'em some towel heads in an open A-rab season!" I've seen homes with washer and dryers sitting out on the front lawn, rusting out with about a dozen cars. More people around my area can identify the source of "GET 'ER DONE!" but they couldn't tell you the name of the man who said, "Give me liberty, or give me death."

COME ON. ...Is that not redneck enough for you, buddy? Because after living amongst them for the past 11 years of my life, I think I can peg an ignorant, low-class, trashy-ass redneck when I see one, WITHOUT any "Left Coast plastician" views ever coming into play.

As a genuine Southerner (Appalachian backwoods!), I can say that I can't wait to see this movie! I went to high school with a whole crowd of tobacco-chewing, NASCAR-following hillbillies, and I'm looking forward to their lampooning. As someone said above, I'm sure the satirical aspect of the film will probably be lost on a fair amount of the rednecks, but whatever. And I'd like to give everyone here a gentle reminder that not all people from the south are inbred, homophobic, toothless specimens of white trash. Oh, and nice review, Mr. Rowles!

Dustin, you've managed to mention Kevin Smith in virtually every review you've written lately. I like you, but it's starting to seem a trifle sycophantic. Really: he's not that f'ing great.

Oh, and Laura-Kathleen, I grew up in the bustling metropolis of Boone, NC. I suppose I had it lucky, since it seems our rednecks are much less hardcore than yours. They didn't even grumble when my high school elected an african-american girl class president.

I live a short drive from the Texas Motor Speedway, and have been to many races there. I'm upper middle-class, educated, and like NASCAR for the sights, sounds, and speed of pure American horsepower. And with NASCAR being second in attendance and TV revenue only to the NFL, many like me get into racing.

The latest generation of drivers, with the exception of hick Earnhardt Jr. are from places other than the south. They speak without a drawl, are educated, and understand image. Fortunately, NASCAR is making attempts to shed the GET 'ER DONE stereotype that's out there.

Which is why Talledega Nights was funny as hell. Knowing and loving NASCAR, I knew this would poke fun at these things. His kids, and his wife were friggin' hilarious. Jean Girrard was a suitable foe, and the scene with Cal and Lucius taking the knife out of Ricky's leg had me crying.

I will agree with you on Amy Adams. A great video with her in it is Drop Dead Gorgeous. A funny movie, and you even see her in bra and panties. VERY HOT!!!

I think that without the gayness and homophobia in it, it would not have been half as funny. What WAS unnecessary was the kiss at the end; it lasted for at least an hour.

The movie was completely awesome and pee in your pants funny. You can't compare Will Ferrell's movies because they are all hilarious in their own ways. He rocks.

Our rednecks really are hardcore. It was crazy-scary during the first few months I lived there, because we arrived just in time for hunting season.

I moved into my house in Hertford when I was 13, and the following Saturday, my family woke up to gunshots outside our windows. Our house had been empty for nearly four years and the rednecks liked to hunt from the backyard, since we were surrounded by fields and forest on three sides and our nearest neighbors were about a mile down the road.

A black girl was valedictorian of the class before mine, and the rednecks tried to accuse her of sleeping with one of the teachers to get "one last A to boost her GPA." It was a wreck.

Wow, no kidding. Growing up, we didn't live in the swankiest of neighborhoods, and witnessed an ambulance stop by the neighbor's trailer. Seems one of them tried to RUN OVER the other in some sort of domestic dispute... Klassy!

Sorry you have to live in Hertford. I've been near it, but it seems like one of those places that should be avoided when possible. Good luck!

Who ever says the movie sucks has the worst sense of humour ever! It was funny as hell! I would go and see this movie again and again! They could lay off the bragging about being American though!

I agree with Paul. Man..... go write a novel or something and keep the film reviews short and sweet.

Fuck you noel and the rest of you hipster losers. Was the term hipster self proclaimed? Is hip really accurate? Just because you read a few left-leaning anit-Macarthy pamphlets and buy your vintage threads at the local hippy bizarre/thrift store, you consider yourselves hip? You were the kid in high school that tried to blend in as much as the painted cement blocks on the wall. You were the kids that adamantly told your parents that you wouldn't go to prom because you weren't sellouts and rocked so fucking hard to the Cure that night while fighting back the welling tears. What a joke. Your dream is to become a mouthy pseduo-intellectual resembling Jeanene Garrafalo and to appreciate Howard Dean's passion. Congratulations, you've wasted your life.

As for you, Noel, you biscuit biting whiny bitch, the fact that this movie treated buddy-pummeling with such assumed social acceptance that is make you and your comments look absurd. The fans in the movie were wearing Perrier jackets and cheering for an openly gay Frenchman with a husband as prominent as any NASCAR wife. I don't know if you'ver ever been to Talladega, Alabama, but not too many fans are rushing back from the gay pride parade in Atlanta to catch the introduction of drivers on pit road. Lighten the fuck up, Noel.

Oh yeah, and after reading several articles on this site, I can say without fear of reproach that the writers at Pajiba are whiny cunts bemoaning a simple form of entertainment as if we were in a salon in 18th century Paris.

Author's Note: Ironically, I've fashioned my home/office after Jean François de Troy's Reading from Molière. You're quite perceptive, 'fuck you noel.' And thanks for stopping by!

to "fuck you noel"-
if you can't post nicely, you are just gonna have to go home. You need to take your meds more often. I love Pajiba, love the reviews, love stupid and bad movies. Dustin, I am glad your new office decor works for you.

I live in Concord, just down from Lowe's Motor Speedway. I moved here with my family about 15 years ago from Southern Alabama. The neighborhood I live in and the area surrounding it is where some of the NASCAR drivers live and my daughter has grown up with their kids, gone to school with them, etc..And based on where I'm from, I can tell you I "know from rednecks". I thought I'd just mention my observations from around here for you.
First, everyone I know wants to see this movie. Even the so-called "rednecks" who know that the movie makes fun of them. Believe me, they aren't stupid and they can take a joke.
Second, I know this isn't exactly the point here, but the typical NASCAR fan is not what most people believe that fan to be. Yes there are a lot of rednecks at the Speedway. But it holds 167,000 people. And the bulk of them are just like me. College-educated, 37, High-income Banker. NASCAR's gone mainstream.
I very much enjoyed the review and I do plan to see the movie. I like Will Farrell to an extent. I can only take him in small doses...maybe one movie every few months.

Movies made to "poke fun" and be "so stupid it's funny" are not meant for people who think their shit don't stink. If these type movies piss ya off so much: stay at home,drink yer wine, and smoke yer cigarettes. Hell, chain smoke 'em so ya die an early painful death and leave us simple minded folk to our own devices-mainly to laugh at how stupid stupid can get.

wow, a lot of stereotypes are being touted in the comments, of both hipsters and rednecks. I live in Raleigh, NC, which is crawling with both. There are some that fit their respective stereotypes, and some that constantly flout them. my guess is that the majority of both groups would have the wherewithal to know when someone is making a joke at their expense.



and now my chance to stereotype: I'm willing to bet the rednecks would laugh at themselves long before the hipsters would. It follows then that both the redneck and the hipster in me can can look forward to seeing the movie.



lovingly,

Confused Redster Hipneck from Raleigh

~*Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby*~
"Help me, Jesus! Help me, Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft to get the fire off me!"
"I can't control my heart rate, I've got a cougar on me!"
"Dear Lord Baby Jesus, I want to thank you for this wonderful meal, my two beautiful son's, Walker and Texas Ranger, and my Red-Hot Smokin' Wife, Carley."
"Chip, I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!"
"I hope you both have sons! And they have no legs! Then you can feel my pain, and my hurt!"
"DON'T YOU PUT THAT EVIL ON ME RICKY BOBBY"
"I'm gonna scissorkick you in the back of the head!"
"SHAKE AND BAKE!"
"If you ain't first, you're last."
"I wanna go fast."
"Drive it like you stole it."
"If you don't chew Big Red, then f**k you!"
"If we wanted wussy kids, we would have named them 'Dr. Quinn' and 'Medicine Woman.'"
"Hakuna Matata, Bitches".
"Nope, from now on it's, Magic man...and El Diablo."
"This sticker is inconvenient and dangerous, but I do like Fig Newtons."
"I sent my application in to The Real World, and I'm pretty much putting all of my eggs in to that basket, the MTV basket."
"If my MTV career doesn't work out, I was thinking I'd start selling crack. I would be like a laid back crack dealer, though. Nothing too formal. I'd just be like 'Hey boys, how's it going? Want some crack?'"

Whoa. This thread got *mean*. Personally, I thought the movie was hilarious. Rather than celebrate and uphold homophobia, I thought it did a pretty thorough job of mocking it (I'm gay, so I tend to take shit like that pretty seriously), and I loved that it made fun of the dumber redneck stereotypes without villianizing the South altogether. The gay, French villian irritated me at first (I'm tired of gay and French always equalling "bad"), but it turned out Jean was more of an antagonist than an out-and-out bad guy. There may not seem to be a difference, but there is, so kudos to the filmmakers for that. Overall, I thought it was funny, surprisingly intelligent in some ways, and goofy as hell. I'd definitely watch it again, although probably as a rental.

Also. Perhaps this is shallow of me, but I fucking LOVED that kiss. Yow.

Dustin, you may be able to save bandwidth by just changing the Comments section to a poll:

1. You suck because you use too many words and make my little head hurt.

2. You suck because I don't agree with you.

3. I am disgusted by my subjective perception of racism/sexism/homophobia in Pajiba's reviews. Also, I have no sense of humor and I own a cat.

4. Even though we have our differences in opinion, I recognize your take on the movie and can agree to disagree.

5. I will never sleep again until these bitches on the internet change their opinion to fall in step with mine.

6. Great review, guys! Hilarious and insightful! I'll definitely be seeing it!

7. Good review, but I'll probably skip this one. I've been hurt before, you know.

8. No, YOU'RE a big doodyhead!

9. Screw you guys. I'm going home.

10. MOM!!!!!!! He's looking at me again!!!

Hope that helps. Chalk me up for a #7.

Wow, there's alot of Cackalackians on Pajiba. I too, am Raleigh born, raised and currently residing. I love the hipster/redneck dichotomy of this town and I struggle everyday to walk the fine line. I'm not exactly a Will Ferrell fan, though he does have his funny moments, but I'll probably still go see this for the cultural relevance. I do wish Steve Carell had made at least a cameo appearance in it. He made Anchorman bearable for me (who doesn't love lamp, really?) and (sorry Ryan Reynolds) is my top Hollywood crush.

Is there such a thing as being truly hip or truly intellectual? It seems even the genuine article (whatever that is) would be deemed pseudo- or faux anyway.

Parenthetically yours,
MG

Why does everyone say this wasn't AS funny as Anchorman? 5 of us couldn't watch more than 30 minutes of Anchorcrap..it's just not funny people. "It's just not funny, or fun, nor funny". I'm betting the intellectual geniuses that found this movie funny are probably the same idiots that contribute to Larry the Retard's paycheck.

The only time Will Farrell has made me laugh out loud was the SNL skit w/ Christopher Walkin.. "I need more cow bell!"

Yeah, I didn't find Anchorman funny, either. Then again, neither was The Cow Bell SNL skit. Most overrated SNL skit ever, as far as I'm concerned. My favorite Will Ferrell movie? Elf, hands down. That might make me inane, but I'm okay with that.

I'm a huge Will Ferrell fan. I LOVED Anchorman. I hated this movie. I literally, no kidding, literally did not laugh one time. This was the first movie I've ever walked out of. One hour into it and I couldn't take it anymore. I smiled twice, maybe three times, but I never laughed. They relied too much on improv, every scene looked like it was from an outtake, the performances were awful, everyone was trying too hard, and this was the most poorly edited comedies I've seen. You're not supposed to notice editing, that's a bad sign. This movie was a giant cartoon. Awful. I'm glad other people are liking it. This is just my opinion, but I thought it was lazy comedy writing and the budget was WAY too big, and it showed.

Well, as a bisexual Southerner from Redneck, VA, I have to say I really enjoyed this movie and didn't find either the "redneck-bashing" or the "homophobia" offensive. I'm not usually a huge fan of Will Ferrell -- he gets on my nerves when he shouts -- but this was my favorite performance of his so far.



My hometown rednecks aren't as hardcore as Laura-Kathleen's (on the first day of hunting season the schools were still open, but you didn't get marked off if you were absent), but the scariest/funniest part of 'Talladega Nights' was driving home afterwards and feeling like I was still watching the movie because of all the Dale Earnhardt memorial mailboxes with American flags sticking out of them. (That's not to mention Buddy's Guns'n'Archery and the five rotting frame houses -- some with trailers! -- I also passed.) I love my home state, but daaaaamn was the redneck-parody right on.



I also thought Gary Cole was awesome as Reese Bobby, and that his unrepentant unsentimentality saved the movie from being too gooey at the end.



Anyway, I had a better opinion of the movie than was expressed in the review, but I still think it was a well-done and made some valid points. Dustin, your reviews don't seem long-winded, over-involved, or pretentiously wordy to me; keep up the good work and don't ever go monosyllabic on us.



cheers,



I'd Rather Be a Waterman Than a Redneck, But No One From Out of Town Can Tell the Difference

Craig - that poll was HeeLARious! Every TV & Movie Review site needs it.

I'd be down for #4 on this movie. #8 and #1 will probably be my answers on some other Pajiba movie reviews I irrationally want to love, inspite of their turdiness.

i got a pretzel in my head!

I really enjoyed this movie!I thought it was absolutley hillarious.One of my favorite Will Ferrell movies by far.I can't wait untill it comes out on DVD.

"If your not first your last"

Deffinatly worth the money!

Ricky BobbyDeffinatly worth the money!

Ricky Bobby

The brilliance of Will Ferrell's comedy is its subtlety. Yes, I actually said that. I found myself belly-laughing at the mindboggling nonsense, the creative cussing, and the bloody slapstick, but then I realized that this movie's humor has several depths. Perhaps the greatest joke in the movie was the subtlest joke of all: the product placements. In an odd way, it's a bit like watching Andy Kaufman. You're never quite sure who the joke is on.

Will Ferrell could film himself taking a dump for 90 minutes... and I'd still be in the aisle rolling. He's just that funny.

I thought the 5 minute discussion of which Jesus he preferred was the best part of the movie. Or the fact that Bill Lumbergh from Office Space (Gary Cole) was a weed dealer... who'd a thunk it?

go will ferrel!
will ferrel is one of the funniest actots ever!
talledega nights is a great movie and i never stopped laughing
i will definitely see it again and again
keep up the good work will ferrel

I was looking on line for quotes from the movie and came upon this mixed bag of enlightenment and crap...

if you didn't like this movie, you are a neo-nazi without any sense of humor (on the top of the world's shortest books, I have on my shelf: 30 Years of German Humor... by I. P. Standing)

This is w/out a doubt one of Will Ferrell's best movies and I will also see it again and again. I really just need to find a web site w/ all the good quotes so I can start using them in my daily reparte.

xo

FUCK YOU DUDE. this movie was badass and you know it. quit trying to get attention by saying you don't like will ferrel!!

ANYONE??? Remember the opening quote from a Roosevelt about "American's love speed...?????? It's something like that...but I'd like the whole quite...HELP~ Thanks...... :) :) :)

I have seen Talledega Nights 3 times and it still is fuckin hillarious. I mean nothing gets old in that movie...I mean I dont get tired of Sacha Baron Cohen at all... The dude is funny as hell and him and Ferral workin together was awesome. Dane Cook is a silly bitch...the dude a B.A.M.F.

HEY EVERYONE PLEASE E-mail me the quote about the 98 percent of everyone dies or whatever I can't think of it. Please do not post it up here for me because I won't be able to check

My e-mail is mckbaseball22@yahoo.com

Thanks everyone for your time Jay

"Normally, I'm a fan of Sacha -- at least as his Ali G persona -- but the mangled, French-speaking femme didn't really work for me, mostly because there's no basis for the caricature other than myths created by our country's patriotic xenophobes and, besides, The Incredibles already lampooned that fiction to better effect."

YES! Thank you! I finally saw this on Saturday night, and while I found it hilarious at some points, I really didn't like Sacha Baron Cohen's character. Way too over-the-top with the femmy French and gay stereotypes.

For all those W F fans and enemies, Two words
Steve Martin

For all those W F fans and enemies, Two words
Steve Martin