One of the best spoof movies I've ever seen. Will Ferrell's shallow good ole boy Ricky Bobby is a feckless idiot who rises from tyre changer in a no-hope NASCAR team to become the star driver of the circuit. Obsessed with winning after a throwaway comment by his deadbeat racer dad (brilliantly played by Gary Cole), and ignorant of his shallow, mutually empty relationships with his groupie wife, horrendous kids (named Walker and Texas Ranger) and equally thick best friend (John C Reilly), he finally hits the proverbial brick wall in the shape of Sacha Baron Cohen's star turn as Formula 1 Frenchman Jean Girard. Thus begins a slow rebuilding of his life and career - this time the "right" way... sort of!
Subtly sending up every "serious" film of this type (mainly Days of Thunder, Top Gun etc) and the real-life downhome ignorance of the redneck NASCAR following, this not only delivers on the gags (this film is truly hilarious) it also is remarkably smart at portraying the emptiness of the blue-collar sports star's life when faced with enormous fortune, media coverage and hero worship, and the fickle desertion of the hero when he hits skid row.
It is a spoof movie, but not in the sense of the Airplane or Scary Movie series - the movie has a real warmth and actually does tell a real human story in amongst the endless side-splitting gags. It also avoids the kind of schmaltzy American syrup-filled scenes of such films by throwing in the unexpected at each turn.
Worth seeing for Sacha Baron Cohen's performance alone, and Ricky Bobby's "grace" before their Pizza Hut and KFC dinner. If you're in the right mood this will have you crying!