Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It is Ferrell's best movie and the summer's funniest comedy so far.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Will Ferrell does chicken-fried comedy right: with crackpot discipline and stripped-to-the-beer-belly courage.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Talladega Nights may be brash, unbridled, even unhinged, but its cornpone humor is rich in parody, and its craftsmanship is superb -- smart writing, shrewd direction, precisely calibrated performances (whether the calibration calls for delicacy or broad-gauge burlesque), inventive language, inspired silliness and all-but-flawless timing.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Not just the funniest but the smartest comedy around by a mile.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Reilly can play nuts, too, and in a lower gear that reins Ferrell in. They're a great team.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

The British star of "Ali G" fame plays Ricky Bobby's arch-nemesis. His name: Jean Girard. His provenance: France. His sponsor: Perrier. Speaking through a set of nasty-looking, tightly clenched teeth in the faux-est of faux French accents, Cohen is hilarious.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Like "Anchorman," the secret to the inspired absurdity of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is in the improv.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

We are treated to the riotous, almost David Lynchian moment in which Ferrell runs around a motorway in his undies screaming that he's on fire. He's not. Actually, come to think of it: He is.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

This is a decidedly blue-state take on a red-state phenomenon.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The races are scorchingly shot, and they lend the movie a zest.

New York Post Kyle Smith

For the first half-hour or so, this thing works like white lightning.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

Those who appreciate Ferrell's sense of humor will be utterly entertained by his efforts to kick it into high gear.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Unlike many other purveyors of hip comedy, they're consistently clever without being contemptuous of their audience.

Slate Dana Stevens

As good as a summer comedy about NASCAR has any right to be, with fine actors tucked into every nook and cranny.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

An affable entertainment, both a celebration and a satire of lowbrow pleasures.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A bit of a mess, but it is a genial mess, and one that will make you laugh. Which is the whole idea.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

As a cultural artifact, Talladega Nights is both completely phony and, therefore, utterly authentic. Or, to put it differently: this movie is the real thing. It's finger lickin' good. It's eatin' good in the neighborhood. It's the King of Beers. It's Wonder Bread.

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

From its pitch-perfect title through just about every detail, this sendup of sports-triumph movies maintains the right parodic pitch, if not always the highest mph on the laugh speedometer.

Variety Robert Koehler

Simultaneously teasing and loving a subject doesn't make for easy comedy, but writer-star Will Ferrell and director/co-writer Adam McKay pull it off with good-ol'-boy good nature in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

Ferrell reminds the audience of why he matters: because he's the loudest, driest, and most fearless comic actor working.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

When the crazy comes, it's pretty good crazy. Ferrell is in full-on brazen redneck mode, doing a variation on his "Saturday Night Live" George W. Bush impression.

Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton

Silly, inconsistent, and completely frivolous, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby also happens to be one of the funniest movies this side of 2006.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

When Cohen and Ferrell are eyeing each other, you never saw a loopier pair.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The laughs come and go, but Ferrell makes NASCAR his bitch funny. Funnier. And more fun. And then the fun skids to a stop. You know how it goes: Plot gets in the way.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Ferrell's shtick never grows tiresome, because it's constantly changing.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Mainly, though, it's the performers who are having the last laugh.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

They've interspersed laugh-out-loud segments with dry, repetitive material.

Washington Post Teresa Wiltz

Comedy, of course, is a complicated dance between rhythm and timing, but Talladega Nights drags where it should be crackling and popping.

Premiere Nicole Schmuelian

So if you like Ferrell or Cohen, go ahead buy some popcorn, check your brain at the door, and you will laugh.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Lacks the guts of genuine satire.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

You laugh a few times but, in the end, you wonder why you bothered.

Empire Dan Jolin

On the Ferrellometer, Talladega Nights sits just above "Kicking & Screaming," when it should be redlining it up there with "Anchorman."

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Monotonous. For while it offers a few precious laughs, Talladega Nights simply apes the look and feel of most recent Ferrell movies.