I have to admit, I’m a bit confused. This movie has been supported by NASCAR, and NASCAR has been hyping up the movie as a way to reach out to new fans, to go mainstream, as it were. The movie is really pretty good, and I’m happy I saw it, but it doesn’t really help the image of NASCAR at all. In fact, many of the jokes come at the expense of NASCAR stereotypes, and very little of the sport comes through in the movie.
In fact, as I watched the film, I couldn’t help think about how some things just wouldn’t happen in the NASCAR we know today. Ricky Bobby’s crew chief is black. There are no black crew chiefs in NASCAR. The driver that supplants Ricky Bobby is openly gay and French. Riiight. We won’t even get into Ricky Bobby, his wife, or the rest of the characters that also play on stereotypes. Stereotypes make the jokes more accessible, though, and I’m not faulting the movie for playing on them. I’m just curious about why NASCAR was pushing the film so much.
Less forgivable for a movie that’s supposed to help raise awareness of NASCAR, there’s nothing about the fandom of NASCAR or the sport. No stories about fans that drive hundreds of miles to see a NASCAR event, the crashes were incidental, and there’s nothing about the technology of the cars. Most of the people I know that like NASCAR like it for one of those reasons, so I’m not sure what was there to draw new fans in.
All of that doesn’t change how good the movie is, and it’s just plain good. Like Anchorman, another Will Ferrell movie also directed by Adam McKay, Talladega Nights has a good story with lots of completely random bits thrown in. Try and make sense of the film and you’re going to be disappointed, but just go along for the ride and you’ll have a great time. Even though there wasn’t a NASCAR fan in our group, we all liked the movie. Of course, all of us walked out with our opinions of NASCAR unchanged.
Ratings
As always, here’s Stephanie Zacharek’s review at Salon.com.