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Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

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Template:Infobox Film rating Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (formerly known as High, Wide, and Handsome and A Night at the Talladega) is a Hollywood comedy film about NASCAR racing. The film is directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote the film with actor and former Saturday Night Live cast member Will Ferrell, who stars in the title role. The film was released on August 4, 2006. Actors involved in the movie include John C. Reilly, Amy Adams, Sacha Baron Cohen (Da Ali G Show), and Leslie Bibb. Various SNL alumni also make appearances.

Talladega Nights:
The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Directed byAdam McKay
Produced byJudd Apatow
Jimmy Miller
StarringWill Ferrell
John C. Reilly
Sacha Baron Cohen
Gary Cole
Michael Clark Duncan
Distributed byColumbia TriStar
Running time
110 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$72,500,000


Synopsis

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tells the story of NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo—dubbed "Shake" and "Bake" with the ability to finish so many races in the #1 and #2 positions, with Cal always in second place. When a flamboyant French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges the "Shake" and "Bake" for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight Girard for the right to be known as racing's top driver.

Plot

Template:Spoiler Ricky Bobby grew up in a broken family in fictional town of West River, North Carolina. His father was an alcoholic and he was raised by his mother. But Ricky has always liked to go fast. One morning while his mother was at the grocery store, Ricky climbed into the driver's seat and, using a wiffle ball bat to press the pedals, took his momma's station wagon on a high-speed joy ride.

Ricky Bobby never did outgrow his love of racing, and grows up to, by chance, become a professional NASCAR driver. Ricky Bobby soars to the top of NASCAR very quickly, achieving both fame and fortune. While on top of the racing world, he is challenged by a gay French Formula One driver Jean Girard. Jean Girard outperforms Ricky Bobby on the track and overtakes Ricky's #1 standing. Ricky, desperate to regain his dominance, pushes himself too hard and ends up in a horrible wreck. With his nerves lost, he retires from NASCAR. His wife, yearning to be married to the top NASCAR driver, marries his best friend and former partner who he refused to let come first in races.

Ricky moves back home and takes a job as a pizza delivery driver for Hugalo's Pizza. With his life at a lowpoint, Ricky's father suddenly reenters his life. With the retraining and guidance of his father, Ricky gains back his confidence and gets back into racing and eventually reclaims his rightful place atop NASCAR.

Template:Endspoiler

Principal Cast

Box Office

During the films' first weekend of release, the film grossed $47,000,000. Production costs are $72,500,000.[1]

Trivia

  • In the classroom, 10 yr. old Ricky writes with his right hand, but later in the movie, adult Ricky (Will Farrell) writes with his left.
  • Producers pitched the movie idea to studios as: "Six words: Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver."
  • The film was originally titled Talladega Nights but NASCAR officials objected. The working title was then changed to High, Wide, and Handsome (the name the production company used for the filming). Following a brief phase in which the movie did not have a title, the film eventually reverted to its original title.
  • Another name considered for the film was Loud and Proud.
  • According to an article in The Charlotte Observer on 10/14/2005, when asked to be in scenes for the film, One Nextel Cup team read the script and declined to participate. "It'll set the sport back 25 years," a person with the team said.
  • Although "Talladega" is in the title of the movie, only one week of shooting actually took place in Alabama. The rest of the movie was shot in North Carolina. Primary shooting locations included the Charlotte region (including Cabarrus and Gaston County). Even race scenes taking place at Texas Motor Speedway were actually shot at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
  • At "The Pit Stop" restaurant, the sign is deliberately misspelled "Delicieus Foods & 25 TV Screens"
  • Reese Bobby, Ricky's dad, drives a black and gold #13 Chevrolet Chevelle, an apparent homage to Smokey Yunick who campaigned similar Chevelles with driver Curtis Turner in NASCAR in the mid-60's.
  • A special "camera-car" - a black Chevy El Camino outfitted with camera mounts on all four corners of the car - was used to film several of the on-track scenes.
  • Ricky Bobby's two boys are named "Walker" and "Texas Ranger", referencing the action/drama series Walker: Texas Ranger, starring Chuck Norris. Two children native to Clanton and Pell City, Alabama, played as the two brothers.
  • In an interview, Ferrell stated that Talladega Nights is the second part of trilogy of films known as the "Mediocre American Man Trilogy," the first part of the trilogy being 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Information on the third film is still unknown.
  • Will Ferrell's characters in both Talladega Nights and Anchorman, Ricky Bobby and Ron Burgundy, share the initials of RB.
  • Laughing Clown Liquor, the fictional brand of malt liquor Ricky's dad, Reese Bobby, drinks constantly is also the sponsor of the first racecar Bobby drives.
  • During one of the races, the camera cuts to the grass in the middle of the track and there is a brief shot of a lifesize cardboard cutout of the late Dale Earnhardt, wearing mardi gras beads, as tribute to the deceased NASCAR driver.
  • Ricky Bobby is a combination of the two first names of drivers Ricky Craven and Bobby Labonte.
  • This represents John C. Reilly's second outing in a NASCAR related movie, after playing Buck Bretherton in the 1990 Movie Days of Thunder starring Tom Cruise.
  • John C. Reilly's character Cal Naughton, Jr. is a parody of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
  • The movie was featured as a prize on Big Brother, a reality show, for contestants winning a competition.
  • The movie grossed $47 million in its first weekend, the eighth biggest opening gross of 2006.

Quotes

  • Ricky Bobby: Help me, Jesus! Help me, Jewish God! Help me, Allah! Help me, Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft to get the fire off me! Help me Oprah!
  • Ricky Bobby (in Big Red commercial): If you don't chew Big Red, then f[beep] you!
  • Carley Bobby: If we wanted wussy kids, we would have named them "Dr. Quinn" and "Medicine Woman."
  • Jean Girard: "Hakuna Matata, Bitches".
  • Reese Bobby: : "There was a whole rat in my cobb salad!"
  • Ricky Bobby(saying grace): God, I want to thank you for my kids Walker and Texas Ranger and hot smokin' wife".
  • Ricky: "Ma!, I'm goin' fast!"
  • Ricky: "Shake and Bake!"
  • Ricky: "Nope, from now on it's, Magic man...and El Diablo."

References

  1. ^ "Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". Box Office Mojo. 2006-08-04. Retrieved 2006-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

See also

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
 

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