Talladega Nights ***

Another long overdue review in my attempt to catch up on what I've postponed.

I had high hopes for Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby. This promised to be Will Ferrell at his finest, along the likes of Old School or Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. And when I left this film, I actually felt it was a little better than Anchorman overall. Talladega's main strength over Anchorman is that it is a much smoother film. The plot flows well and logically and is not as disjointed as Anchorman. However, now that a few weeks have passed, I'd have to say that the movie falls just a bit short of Ferrell's earlier work. Perhaps repeated viewings on cable will change my mind, but that's where it stands now.

As I said, one of the strengths of the film is that it's smooth and not disjointed. And it is a funny film with some good lines and scenes. But ultimately it's a light snack that doesn't really fill you up. It's worth seeing for a few laughs. Will Ferrell is funny as always. But in the end, it's no classic, cult or otherwise. I was hoping to leave the theater with my sides hurting from laughing too much. But I never even got a good strong belly laugh out of it. It's just a decent comedy that's worth a matinee price or a couple hours of your time when it's on cable.