Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby cuts to the chase in 'Talladega Nights'. - Contributed

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is in large part an encounter of the moronic kind. Occasionally, the flick gets so stupid that it crosses that thin line into brilliance. Unfortunately, the crossing is not successful often enough for it to be deemed a brilliant flick, but it does manage to be amusing and occasionally hilarious.

Talladega Nights stars Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby, a man who was born going fast and spends his life wanting to remain in the fast lane through the NASCAR circuit. He finally gets his chance at fame and from there zooms to the top. His rise is aided by his best friend from childhood, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), who remains his faithful sidekick.

Tragedy strikes

Yet, when tragedy strikes he must learn to rise against adversity, especially when he faces a rival driver, Jean Girrard (Sasha Baron Cohen) who has the worst French accent ever faked. The cast also features Gary Cole as Bobby's wayward father and Jane Lynch as Bobby's mother (Lucy Bobby).

Directed by Adam McKay, who also co-writes the script with Ferrell, Talladega Nights, to its own credit, does not take itself too seriously, though that might also be why the comedy does not work as well as it could. There are ways in which the flick seems to yearn to be a satire of Americans of the Deep South.

It does manage to poke some fun at what passes for family life, as well as the obsession with all things violent in a culture which celebrates everything big. Unfortunately, rather than sinking its teeth into some fantastic satire, Talladega Nights instead half-heartedly settles for stupidity.

Good hand

Once again Farrell shows that he is a good hand at playing stupid. His features easily fall into the visage of somebody who is home, but none of the lights have been turned on and the switch is broken. So Ricky Bobby bears no traces of higher mental activity and seems to be unfamiliar with some of the lower mental activities as well.

Indeed, the name Ricky Bobby is not the kind of name one gives to a child from whom one expects brilliance. Instead, it is the kind of name against which a reasonably intelligent child would have to work hard. Of course, Ricky Bobby manages to give his two sons even worse names by dubbing them Walker and Texas Ranger.

When Talladega Nights is able to shrug itself free of the extremely limp gay jokes, which are boring and unimaginative, and the idiotic snooty French-guy jokes (which are even worse), it does tend to be amusing, occasionally even hitting 'laugh out loud funny' status.