Ricky Bobby

[smyler]

I succumbed to all the hype and went to see the Ricky Bobby movie yesterday.  I know it is "just a movie" but it really irritated me. 

First of all, It just plain wasn't very funny!  Sure, there were a couple of laughs, but they just plain tried too hard.  It was painful to watch.
Secondly, they mock NASCAR.  This movie had to be made by non fans. 
Third, why is it that they think we want to watch man on man deep kissing?  If I thought it was going to be a family movie, it certainly was not.
Fourth, discussion of using and selling of drugs looked upon as a positive thing in front of the family.  The scumbag dad is looked upon admiringly by his family.  In the real world this guy would either be in prison or have a restraining order against him.
Finally, the racing wasn't realistic.  I know it is more dramatic to see a guy pass everyone like the others are sitting still, but going from last to first in a lap or two just doesn't happen.

I don't want to go into detail, in case some of you poor souls pay money to see this tripe.  I don't want to be a spoiler. 

I'm sorry if I sound uptight, but remember that this movie was helped along and hyped by our friends in NASCAR.  I wondered why Jeff said he was asked to do a cameo and wouldn't do it.  Now it makes sense.  The only good purpose for this movie is to show to convicted felons as part of their penalty.

Did anyone else feel like they had just been insulted, when they saw this movie.

[KurtBuschFan]

I have no plans to see it in the theater...I'll be waiting for hbo.

[Chris]

from what I hear,... if you wanna see a "race" movie... go see "Cars"

[ROOKER]

THE BEST NASCAR MOVIE OF ALL TIME.....PERIOD!!!

[Chris]

Here's one writers (critics) opinion
Shame it made $47 million the first weekend,.. it sure sends the wrong message...
but people are like cows,.. just following blindly....
Other sports get GREAT movies made about them... all NASCAR gets is CRAP...

Don't race out to see 'Talladega Nights'
Having seen every NASCAR movie ever made, and nearly every auto racing film ever made, I had a vastly different experience this week watching Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

I dozed off.

Three times.

Honest.

Not sound asleep -- just 10-second nods.

Didn't miss a thing that might have changed my opinion, which is: If you've seen the trailers, you've already seen the best of the movie. No sense paying admission unless you're a generic aficionado of Will Ferrell's comedy.

This thing is all about Will, just as his Anchorman was.

That's fine. It's just that there's nothing here for NASCAR fans to get worked up about, one way or the other.

NASCAR is neither ridiculed nor exalted. It's a backdrop and a platform, as baseball was for Major League and Bull Durham.

I took my seat all tingly with anticipation. Based on the relentless hype and the $47 million gross from the first weekend, I thought maybe this was bigger than what I'd expected through all those months of seeing Ferrell hanging around the racetracks. In years past, I'd seen the same of Burt Reynolds, Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone, always with the same results: mediocrity.

But this time . . .

Right-wing preachers already had been on cable talk shows blistering Talladega Nights for blaspheming Christianity and Southern white manhood. The trailers had tantalized me with morsels of scathing satire of NASCAR drivers -- their commercial obsession, their superficial family lifestyles, their carefully hidden super egos -- and the general jingoism of the NASCAR culture.

This, I had to see.

I was wired -- even had to play the NASCAR racing arcade game in the lobby for a half-hour to dissipate my nervous energy waiting for the start.

It didn't take long to calm down and begin waiting for Talladega Nights to get good. Even when it did, the scenes amounted to expanded reruns of the trailers.

There are flashes of lampooning that I found uproarious after 32 years of putting up with some absurd facets of NASCAR.

For example, Ricky Bobby is obligated by contract to mention PowerAde even in his prayers and also feels compelled to mention KFC, Domino's and Taco Bell. When Ricky Bobby is disabled and falls on hard times, his wife leaves him for his best-friend driver, rationalizing that she has to go where the money is: "I'm a driver's wife. I don't work." And like many a real driver, Ricky Bobby has tailor-made for himself a version of evangelical religion that conforms to his lifestyle.

But add all these scenes together, and it's nothing Ferrell couldn't have covered in a couple of three-minute sketches in his old job on Saturday Night Live.

The rest is filler buffoonery.

What lulled me most was the endless race-and-crash footage, which -- though actually much more realistic than in, say, Days of Thunder -- still gets monotonous

[Chris]

this article pretty much echos what many of us have said about the movie,... and raises the same questions...

Talledega Nights’ insults NASCAR drivers and fans
Is NASCAR trying to please too many?

The marketing execs at NASCAR offices in Daytona Beach, Charlotte and New York City seem to be sending a confusing message to the masses.

There seemed to be an effort by NASCAR to play down its past and lose the “redneck Southern” image.

At the same time there seems to be a major effort to attract corporate America and the jetsetters to NASCAR as an entertainment venue rather than a sport.

At a time when NASCAR is working hard to attract the wine and cheese set, why would it want to do something that would give their racers the image of being southern dummies?

Will Farrell’s new movie, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” seems to go against everything that NASCAR has been trying to do.

I just can not understand why NASCAR supported this movie.

Is the image NASCAR wants to portray of its drivers that of a Ricky Bobby? This is a racer who is shown feeding pork rinds to his dead, stuffed dog.

Is the image NASCAR wants to portray of its drivers that of Ricky Bobby running around the track in his undershorts with a helmet on? I thought I had a pretty good idea of what direction NASCAR was trying to go, but after “Talladega Nights” I am not so sure.

Quite frankly, I am not a Farrell fan. I am not entertained by stupidity.

Some thought that Farrell was entertaining when he showed up at the NASCAR Nextel Cup banquet and made some outlandish statements and did an impersonation of Jeff Gordon.

It was downright silly.

Wasn’t it NASCAR that would not allow a company called “Redneck Junk” to be a sponsor of a race team in one of its major divisions? I think that was last year.

Isn’t this the same NASCAR that has drivers going to school to learn how to present themselves and work with the media and sponsors?

In all fairness I have not seen the movie. I have seen the previews usually offering the best of a movie. I have visited the movie Web site.

I have seen Farrell doing interviews on various TV shows about the movie. And there have been endless commercials.

It is probably good that I have not seen the movie because I would have liked it even less.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is reported as being sorry that he took part in the movie. Jeff Gordon turned down the opportunity because he was concerned about his own image and that of his sponsors.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t remember seeing movies that depict other professional sports figures as idiots, so why is it happening in NASCAR? Why would NASCAR support such drivel? Some readers probably will think I’m just just too old-fashioned and need to catch up with what is happening these days. I understand that it was the No. 1 movie last weekend based on box office figures of $47 million in ticket sales. If “Talladega Nights” is what’s happening, I don’t think I want to be part of it. NASCAR Nextel Cup is at Watkins Glen on Sunday. See if there is anyone in the race who resembles Ricky Bobby. I hope there is not. It is a movie that is insulting to fans and insults the NASCAR racers.

[Busch Babe 899]

I'll probaby rent it when it comes out, unless I'm just bored one day...Will Ferrell's type of humor is just not generally the type of humor that has me rolling in the aisles. However, Indy was rife with "I am Ricky Bobby!" being called out everywhere after it's open the friday night...we almost went and saw it, but were too tired. I DO like the fact that Will Ferrell and crew seemed to be trying to make the racing part realistic, filming at LMS last fall when I was there...but the humor, I know it might get a couple of chuckles out of me, but more often, I'll likely be rolling my eyes.

Fortunately for Will, there ARE a lot of people out there that like his type of humor, so the movie is making big bucks.

And I had a feeling, as with many other movies, the best stuff was in the trailers...seems the critics agree.

[Chris]

Buddy of mine is a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and he was one of the 'extras' that helped make this movie.
He was gone about four weeks doing on the 'on track' movie sequences.
He talked like it woud be funny,.. but I guess it's different when you are involved with it and all.

The guy was the ex-CTS driver I helped on the CTS tour,.. so he had experience driving the race cars,.. and drove them in the 'race scenes'.  Also helped on the pit sequences.

I talked to him last week and he also helped in the filming of the "Ameriquest" commercial with the four CUP drivers. (Martin, Biffle, Edwards, and Kenseth)
They didn't show up but for just a couple scenes,.. and he did most of the on track stuff.
He ask me,... "Did you see me stick my hand out of the car an wave in the commercial"... LOL
Nice to be able to do fun stuff like that,... but no one ever gets to "see" you... oh well it pays REAL well.

[sweetwahine]

 Re Talledega Nights aka Ricky Bobby, it was Funny but Rooker is right his pick is an all time fav.