Will Ferrell trots out yet another variation of his standard character — clueless, a bit pompous, but thoroughly silly and ultimately redeemable (think Adam Sandler crossed with The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter) — in this enjoyably ridiculous outing from the folks who brought you Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Ferrell's redneck racecar driver in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is basically just TV talking head Ron Burgundy with a different accent and worse table manners, and the new movie is even more of a plotless excuse for Ferrell's riffing than Anchorman was. That said, much of Talladega Nights is really quite funny, cruising along with considerable energy as it unleashes volleys of bizarre comic non-sequiturs and what appear to be semi-improvised skits. A lot of it falls flat but every so often a scene appears out of nowhere and simply floors us (case in point: the priceless sequence of an extended family dinner, featuring one of the oddest graces ever uttered.)
The story here, such as it is, amounts to standard rise-and-fall stuff, but Ferrell and co-writer/director Adam McKay mostly just poke fun at the obvious clichés of their tale, using them as springboards for more odd little routines and some distinctly bad behavior. There's nothing here remotely resembling a precision-guided satire of NASCAR's world, but Talladega Nights offers enough loopy and crude detours to keep us pleasantly distracted. Stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole and Michael Clarke Duncan.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (PG-13) opens Aug. 4 at local theaters. 3 stars
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2006.