# Talladega Nights or Shoot Me, Please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323 "2006-08-04T14:03:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/21 "2006-08-09T03:50:36Z")
I have no idea how TN is getting over 70% on [Rottentomatoes.com](http://Rottentomatoes.com). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/22 "2006-08-09T03:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=Cardinal] I have no idea how TN is getting over 70% on [Rottentomatoes.com](http://Rottentomatoes.com). [/QUOTE] Film critics just love NASCAR, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/23 "2006-08-09T11:47:07Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Although the script for those kinds of movies is probably written by robots anyway. Right. Michael Mann is a robot. He only wrote the screenplays for Manhunter, Heat, Collateral, Last of the Mohicans, The Insider. Does your computer get the IMDB station? [QUOTE=Miller] Film critics just love NASCAR, I guess. [/QUOTE] Somehow I doubt that [A.O. Scott](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.O._Scott) is a big NASCAR fan. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/24 "2006-08-09T13:16:26Z")
[QUOTE=Cardinal] I have no idea how TN is getting over 70% on [Rottentomatoes.com](http://Rottentomatoes.com). [/QUOTE] There is a quote out there somewhere that I am going to hack to pieces, but it goes something like, Appeal to the lowest common denominator and you will never go hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/25 "2006-08-09T13:37:26Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] There is a quote out there somewhere that I am going to hack to pieces, but it goes something like, Appeal to the lowest common denominator and you will never go hungry. [/QUOTE] Rotten Tomatoes is a sampling of movie critics. Are they the “lowest common denominator” now? Because when they all trashed “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”, the party line was that they’re all elitist snobs out of touch with the movie going public. Has it dawned on anybody that just MAYBE this is a funny movie? That it could be about a NASCAR driver and perhaps send-up what’s funny about NASCAR while still having charming characters and getting some laughs out of some talented actors. Or, did everyone just see the preview, and go “Will Ferrell in underwear. NASCAR. Definitely sucks.” ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/26 "2006-08-09T13:44:04Z")
Bill Lumbergh, Mike Brady, Harvey Birdman and now Reese Bobby. All hail the greatness that is Gary Cole. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/27 "2006-08-09T14:00:07Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] That’s what pisses me off the most. I saw a preview for the new Miami Vice movie the other day and they showed Jamie Foxx’s character saying “We’re as fast as FedEx!” ARGH! Those people don’t need advertising money! Especially not if it’s shoving out a line a screenwriter wrote that might actually, ya know, progress the storyline, instead of wasting time and breath. Although the script for those kinds of movies is probably written by robots anyway. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen the movie, but it’s obvious you and **phall0106** are missing an in-joke. It’s customary for NASCAR drivers (well, just about any drivers) to plug their sponsors relentlessly. Even F1 drivers won’t just say, “our car was good today”, it’ll be more like “the Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari was good today”. Usually at least half of any post-race interview is nothing but a string of, “I want to thank Snap-On Tools, Trojan Condoms, Gerber Baby Food, Jack Daniels Whiskey”…for 5 straight minutes before they say anything about the actual race. And they have to swap different hats with different sponsors (usually the race sponsor gets the hat), drink different post-drink beverages, etc. It’s not just a lot of product placement in a movie, it’s NASCAR-strength over-the-top product placement, a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/28 "2006-08-09T14:03:39Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] Or, did everyone just see the preview, and go “Will Ferrell in underwear. NASCAR. Definitely sucks.” [/QUOTE] I thought I said this before, but I see that I didn’t. I did see it, and I have no idea… It wasn’t horrible walk-out bad, it just was so formulaic in almost every respect. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/29 "2006-08-09T14:17:15Z")
It wasn’t the funniest movie I’ve seen this year and I can’t really recommend paying $8 to go see it right now, however, it did have some good jokes, a harmless story line, and is worth seeing sometime (DVD rental). The Nascar “in” jokes are pretty scarce (over the top product placement, Earnhardt Jr. cameo) and it played more to the “My Name is Earl” type fan who can laugh at the trailer type mentality. ---
**Author:** ![AmericanMaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@AmericanMaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmericanMaid)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/30 "2006-08-09T14:17:58Z")
I saw the movie last weekend. I didn’t laugh too often and found some parts painfully unfunny. But the movie is more a satire than a comedy so maybe that’s why a lot fell flat for me. Did anyone else suffer from the same confusion as me? I swear, Amy Adams’s character was introduced as Ricky Bobby’s _sister_. I got really confused and grossed out at the end! Sasha Baron Cohen was really excellent. Borat here I come! ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/31 "2006-08-09T15:50:37Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] I haven’t seen the movie, but it’s obvious you and **phall0106** are missing an in-joke. It’s customary for NASCAR drivers (well, just about any drivers) to plug their sponsors relentlessly. Even F1 drivers won’t just say, “our car was good today”, it’ll be more like “the Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari was good today”. Usually at least half of any post-race interview is nothing but a string of, “I want to thank Snap-On Tools, Trojan Condoms, Gerber Baby Food, Jack Daniels Whiskey”…for 5 straight minutes before they say anything about the actual race. And they have to swap different hats with different sponsors (usually the race sponsor gets the hat), drink different post-drink beverages, etc. It’s not just a lot of product placement in a movie, it’s NASCAR-strength over-the-top product placement, a joke. [/QUOTE] psst, he was talking about Miami Vice, definitely not a NASCAR movie. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/32 "2006-08-09T16:00:05Z")
[QUOTE=AmericanMaid] I saw the movie last weekend. I didn’t laugh too often and found some parts painfully unfunny. But the movie is more a satire than a comedy so maybe that’s why a lot fell flat for me. Did anyone else suffer from the same confusion as me? I swear, Amy Adams’s character was introduced as Ricky Bobby’s _sister_. I got really confused and grossed out at the end! Sasha Baron Cohen was really excellent. Borat here I come! [/QUOTE] I thought she was the woman who lifted her shirrt and Ricky Bobby said “I hope she’s 18”. I hate Will Ferrel, but I laughed through the whole movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/33 "2006-08-09T16:29:01Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] When in small contained doses, Ferrell is effective. Spread him out too thin and he is as annoying as Scrappy Do. [/QUOTE] I think you nailed it right here. I remember laughing my ass off at Will Ferrell’s cameo at the beginning of _Austin Powers_ where his chair tipped back and he fell down into the room of flames, or whatever it was called. “Hello, can anyone hear me? If you can, send help, because I’m very badly burned. I’m really in a lot of pain…oh, thank God. You’ve come to help me. I need…you shot me! I can’t believe you shot me!” Granted, I’ve not seen a lot of Ferrell movies, but as a general rule, if he’s a main character I don’t like the movie. He should just go back to SNL and do Celebrity Jeopardy and GWB impersonations. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/34 "2006-08-09T19:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] I like Farrell, but the trailers for this one don’t have a single laugh in them. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen any trailers, just the TV ads, but for some reason the “Help me, Tom Cruise!” line makes me laugh every time. Maybe that means I’ll like the movie. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/35 "2006-08-09T19:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] I haven’t seen any trailers, just the TV ads, but for some reason the “Help me, Tom Cruise!” line makes me laugh every time. Maybe that means I’ll like the movie. 🙂 [/QUOTE] “Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft to get fire off me!” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/36 "2006-08-09T20:50:49Z")
I wasn’t planning to see the movie, but last night on Scarborough Country they had some guy who is the head of some christian movie watchdog group, and he was foaming at the mouth about how this movie makes fun of baby Jesus, and predicting widespread doom because of the moral decay represented by the movie. When another guest simply commented that she didn’t think it was a big deal, he accused **her** of making fun of baby Jesus and asked her if she really thought it was funny, and if she would also be willing to make fun of Allah. I seriously rewound it on Tivo to watch the whole thing again, it was so funny. So now I’m going to see the movie. I’ll probably wait for it to come to PPV though. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/37 "2006-08-09T20:55:53Z")
The lines about Baby Jesus were pretty funny, though I wasn’t impressed with the movie as a whole. Unlike someone above, I found the Cohen character painful. The accent kept throwing me, and while some of the gay jokes were funny (such as the cut to the announcers after the bio), some were just unpleasant and odd. The old man, the kids, the wife, I would have happily done without. The best friend, the father, the crew chief, I would have happily seen more of. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/38 "2006-08-09T21:01:03Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley] I wasn’t planning to see the movie, but last night on Scarborough Country they had some guy who is the head of some christian movie watchdog group, and he was foaming at the mouth about how this movie makes fun of baby Jesus, and predicting widespread doom because of the moral decay represented by the movie. When another guest simply commented that she didn’t think it was a big deal, he accused **her** of making fun of baby Jesus and asked her if she really thought it was funny, and if she would also be willing to make fun of Allah. I seriously rewound it on Tivo to watch the whole thing again, it was so funny. So now I’m going to see the movie. I’ll probably wait for it to come to PPV though. [/QUOTE] Jeezum Crow, some people just WANT to be offended. The movie doesn’t “make fun” of Baby Jesus, it just has a running gag in about how Will Ferrell always prefers to _pray_ to “Baby Jesus” rather than “grown up Jesus.” There’s some humor in the detail he goes into in describing Baby Jesus while he says grace, but nothing he says is offensive or an attack on Jesus. Good lord, you would this guy would be happy that the characters are shown praying to Jesus at all, now he’s going to bitch about HOW they pray? It’s enough to make sweet, 6 pound, 8 ounce Baby Jesus roll his little eyes out of his head. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/39 "2006-08-09T21:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=crazyjoe] psst, he was talking about Miami Vice, definitely not a NASCAR movie. [/QUOTE] I shoulda done the double quote tag, or just quoted **phall** , but I was lazy. **phall** was talking about TN, and **fetus** responded with the Miami Vice attribute, so it made it look like I was responding to the wrong movie…but product placement in TN was what got the ball rolling, that’s the ball I was running with. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323/40 "2006-08-09T21:49:15Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley] I wasn’t planning to see the movie, but last night on Scarborough Country they had some guy who is the head of some christian movie watchdog group, and he was foaming at the mouth about how this movie makes fun of baby Jesus, and predicting widespread doom because of the moral decay represented by the movie. When another guest simply commented that she didn’t think it was a big deal, he accused **her** of making fun of baby Jesus and asked her if she really thought it was funny, and if she would also be willing to make fun of Allah. I seriously rewound it on Tivo to watch the whole thing again, it was so funny. [/QUOTE] Are you referring to this reviewer? [QUOTE=Dr. Ted Baehr with Dr. Tom Snyder] Will Hollywood and the news media repudiate Will Farrell’s ridicule of Southern white Christian males as well as Mel Gibson’s Anti-Semitic comments? Don’t hold your breath! By Dr. Ted Baehr with Dr. Tom Snyder This week, in the wake of the media storm over Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic comments during a drunk-driving arrest, one of the six major Hollywood studios will release a comedy starring self-described lefty Will Farrell, called TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY. A satire of the NASCAR racing scene, the movie is a racist, bigoted work that ridicules the Bible Belt, Southern white men, Christianity, Jesus Christ, the family, and American masculinity… [/QUOTE] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talladega-nights-or-shoot-me-please/367323.md?page=3)