Ìý After the debacle that was Bewitched, Will Ferrell returns to his surreal and silly best in the "very funny" Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby. He tops the bill as an arrogant NASCAR driver pitted against Sacha Baron Cohen's French speed freak Jean Girard. It came racing off the start-line with glowing reviews and clocked up a lot of miles at the international box office.
Freewheeling
As the film was largely improvised, there are plenty of outtakes on this DVD to keep your chuckle muscles taut. Ricky sings the praises of Prune Candy and diet pork rinds in a reel of mock TV commercials and Line-O-Rama showcases alternative dialogue ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. e.g. When Ricky comes out of his coma: "Where can I get on a spaceship with Darryl Dawkins and some trained spiders?" And even more bizarre: "Christmas sandwich. Fake beard. Statue Of Liberty. Man nipple." Trust us. It's the way he tells 'em...
Even the kiddies who play Walker and Texas Ranger (Houston Tumlin and Grayson Russell) get in on the act. They're afforded their own outtakes reel with Texas Ranger spouting priceless insults then justifying his behaviour by claiming to be "all jacked up on Mountain Dew." And in a selection of hysterical audition tapes, he swears that he's, "still sitting in my dirty pee pants." Elsewhere a gallery of interviews hears from Ricky and Cal (Ferrell and John C Reilly in character) talking about their mis-spent childhood together e.g. stealing the city bus and going for a joy ride and dubbing themselves "The Pumpkin and Mr Johnson."
Compared to the outtakes, nine deleted scenes are quite low on the laughter quotient. That is except for an extended version of the coma scene where Ricky's buddies confess their sins and beg him to wake up. Michael Clarke Duncan (who plays Lucius) shows a wicked gift for comedy as he confesses to occasionally dressing up like Donna Summer and singing 'Last Chance For Romance'.
Steering The Course
The video diaries of director Adam McKay give us a little window into the organised chaos on set. Even the cougar that's supposed to help Ricky rediscover his fighting spirit was very professional, but alas rather too docile for the needs of the scene. The racing drama pumps up his blood pressure even more. "I was ashen and half dead when I got out of the car," the director confesses. "I'd really love this to be a swimming movie," adds Cohen.
Don't expect too many practical insights in McKay's commentary. Sadly Ferrell doesn't sit in for the ride, but he is joined by supporting player Ian Roberts (aka Kyle) and together they make quite the comedy doubleact. We're told the film was made for a budget north of $470m - bumped up by location shooting in Ecuador and a background cameo by Sean Penn... When McKay later recounts an incident where Cohen accidentally shredded the tendons in Ferrell's arm (during their bar fight) it's hard to tell whether he's joking or not. "Abbey Road!" Cohen is reported to have cried (in a bad cockney accent). "I'm so sorry, Will."
Ferrell gets his revenge by making Cohen split his sides in the gag reel. A little bonus race footage is thrown in too and Ferrell makes a rare appearance 'as himself' on a daytrip to the Talladega speedway. He takes questions from the press while real-life racecar drivers assure us, "He doesn't have the right body structure," to compete in NASCAR. (Ouch.) Buckle up for safety: this DVD will have you rolling around.
EXTRA FEATURES
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby DVD is released on 15th January 2007.
