Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Adam McKay and Will Ferrell wrote this together and sold it on a six word pitch: Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver. Sony won the bidding. NASCAR agreed to help, but most teams and drivers stayed away over the ill feeling left by Days of Thunder in 1990, and only two drivers appeared on camera, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray. That also marks the limit of the satire. Ferrell said their aim was not to make fun of NASCAR but to have fun with it, so sponsorship culture takes the hits and the sport is left standing. One week was shot at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and the rest in North Carolina, mostly around Charlotte, with race footage from Charlotte Motor Speedway and Rockingham Speedway. Ferrell and John C. Reilly took lessons at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, and Ferrell said he was terrified behind the wheel. Variety credited Oliver Wood with shooting the tracks almost as documentary. Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen won Best Kiss at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. A good fit if you want the racing shot on real ovals and held to a straighter eye than the comedy around it. Not for anyone who wants the sponsorship and flag waving jokes to actually cut the sport, since the film stays friendly with its target.