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 a lifelong need for speed—and major daddy issues. When a racetrack wipeout leaves him dispirited and afraid of speed, his long-lost 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. They all worked, and it had me laughing from start to finish. The supporting cast of Cole, John C. Reilly (as Ricky’s dim-witted 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, delivering his lines with what is supposed to be a French accent, but it sort of defies description. This movie establishes Cohen 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 Ferrell’s best, and a great return to form after a couple of stinkers (Bewitched, Kicking and Screaming).