Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
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| Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby |
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 Promotional Poster |
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| Directed by | Adam McKay |
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| Produced by | Judd Apatow Jimmy Miller Will Ferrell (exec.) Adam McKay (exec.) |
| Written by | Adam McKay Will Ferrell |
| Starring | Will Ferrell John C. Reilly Sacha Baron Cohen Michael Clarke Duncan Leslie Bibb Amy Adams Gary Cole Jane Lynch |
| Music by | Alex Wurman |
| Cinematography | 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. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $72,500,000 |
| Gross revenue | $162,966,177 |
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 comedy film about NASCAR racing. The film is directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote the film with Will Ferrell. The film stars Ferrell and co-stars John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Amy Adams, Gary Cole and Jane Lynch. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also make appearances.
The film was primarily shot in the southern region of 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 Porsche Cayenne outfitted with camera mounts on all four corners of the car.
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[edit] Plot
Ricky Bobby was born to "go fast." He was born in the back seat of his father's car, and raised solely by his mother, Lucy Bobby, while his drug addict and alcoholic father, Reese Bobby, is absent. Many years later, while working on a pit crew as the jackman for a race team, he replaces an uninterested driver and ends up finishing in third place, despite starting mid-race in last place. Ricky quickly soars to the top of NASCAR, achieving fame and fortune at Dennit Racing and meeting his future wife, Carley (Bibb). He arranges to get his best friend, Cal, as the second driver of the team.
Fast forward to a couple of years later. While on top of the racing world, Ricky is challenged by homosexual French Formula One & driver, Jean Girard (Cohen). Girard outperforms Ricky on the track and becomes Dennit Racing's top driver. Ricky, desperate to regain his dominance, pushes himself too hard and ends up in a spectacular wreck, during which he believes that he is on fire. While recovering, he persists in the belief that he is paralyzed. His tests at Rockingham Speedway show that he has lost his touch and he fails to regain a spot on the team. Carley, yearning to be married to a top NASCAR driver, plans a divorce and a marriage to Cal before Ricky gets home that night.
Ricky takes his two sons, Walker and Texas Ranger and moves back home with his mother. He takes a job as a pizza delivery and is reduced to using a bicycle after losing his license. With his life at its low point, Reese suddenly reenters Ricky's life and tries to teach Ricky to drive by using the fear he experienced. With the retraining and guidance of his father, Ricky regains his confidence but still refuses to race after Reese walks out. When Ricky runs into his former assistant, Susan, at a bar, she convinces Ricky to get back into racing at the Talladega 500 and they fall in love. The race ends with all cars being wrecked and Girard and Bobby running on foot to the finish line. Girard then offers to shake hands with Ricky after Ricky beats him, but instead Ricky passionately kisses him. Both drivers are disqualified for violating race procedures and Cal wins the race, having been in third prior to the wrecks. Ricky and Cal repair their friendship and the family, consisting of Ricky, Susan, Walker, Texas Ranger and Ricky's mother, meet Reese in the parking lot and reunite for a dinner during which they plan to get thrown out of Applebee's.
[edit] Cast
- Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby
- John C. Reilly as Cal Naughton Jr.
- Sacha Baron Cohen as Jean Girard
- Michael Clarke Duncan as Lucius Washington
- Amy Adams as Susan
- Gary Cole as Reese Bobby
- Jane Lynch as Lucy Bobby
- Leslie Bibb as Carley Bobby Naughton
- Greg Germann as Larry Dennit Jr.
- Jamille Breton as Delilah Hurley
- Andy Richter as Gregory
- Jason Davis as Waffle House Manager
- Lorrie Bess Crumley as School teacher
- Luke Bigham as 10-Year-Old Ricky
- Austin Crim as 10-Year-Old Cal
- Houston Tumlin as Walker Bobby
- Grayson Russell as Texas Ranger 'T.R.' Bobby
- Adam McKay as Terry Cheveaux
- David Koechner as Himself
- Ian Roberts as Kyle
- Jack McBrayer as Glenn
- John D. King as ESPN Reporter
- Pat Hingle as Mr. Dennit Sr.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Himself
- James Setzer as Walker's double
- Jamie McMurray as himself
- Darrell Waltrip as himself
[edit] Reception
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 April 26, 2007, the film has grossed an estimated $162,966,177 worldwide.[1]
The film holds a current rating of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 66 metarating at Metacritic.
The film has become a cult classic being cited by numerous athletes and musicians. Most recently, Ricky Bobby has become an inspiration for a dance and a hit single by Dallas rap newcomer B-Hamp entitled "Do the Ricky Bobby" in which most of Ricky Bobby's catch phrases are used. The single reached # 81 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs charts and a video was shot in which scenes from the movie are re-enacted by the rapper.
[edit] DVD release
The film was released on Blu-ray on November 17, 2006 and standard DVD and PSP UMD on December 12, 2006. The menu gives the viewer the choice of Super Speedway (with footage of the film used as intros when Special Features, Scene Selection, etc. is chosen) or Short Track (without video intros.) 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 and one part that shows 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 (However, Cal is not seen in any of the 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, Portuguese, Korean, and Thai subtitles.
The first 1 million 60GB, and 20GB PlayStation 3 units included a free Blu-ray copy of the film.
[edit] Life Imitating Art
In homage to Talladega Nights, NASCAR driver Carl Edwards climbed out of his wrecked automobile and ran across the finish line at the final lap of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron's 499 (at Talladega) to a standing ovation from the crowd. The NASCAR on Fox reporters commented how it was "shades of Ricky Bobby."[2] Edwards was later asked about this on Larry King Live; he responded, "I'm kind of a Will Ferrell fan. He did that at the end of Talladega Nights."[3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". Box Office Mojo. 26 April 2007. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=talladeganights.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=138ckTWQPa4
- ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0904/28/lkl.01.html
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby |
- Official website
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby at Allmovie
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby at the Internet Movie Database
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby at Rotten Tomatoes
| Preceded by Miami Vice |
Box office number-one films of 2006 (USA) August 6 - August 13 |
Succeeded by Snakes on a Plane |
| Preceded by Accepted |
Box office number-one films of 2006 (UK) September 17 |
Succeeded by Children of Men |
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