Never Forget How Much Christopher Nolan Loves ‘Talladega Nights’

When IndieWire dropped a list of Christopher Nolan's favorite movies, I excitedly opened it and scrolled through for an inclusion I would have been devastated not to see. Thankfully, they hadn’t omitted what is my favorite Christopher Nolan fact in his list of favorite movies: The fact that Christopher Nolan absolutely fucking loves the Will Ferrell racing comedy Talladega Nights.

Nolan first shared his love of Ricky Bobby’s adventures on The Rich Eisen Show, when Eisen asked him for a movie that, if it’s on, he’ll absolutely never change the channel. Nolan not only nominated Talladega Nights but went on to call it one of the “great comedies.” High praise, especially considering the fact that most people wouldn’t necessarily call it one of Ferrell’s “great comedies.” 

Not that it’s not funny, of course. I think Talladega Nights was put in a bad light by coming out at a time when anything Ferrell said was immediately co-opted into the conversational lexicon of the worst guy you knew. It was overquoted probably within a week of the trailer dropping, much less the movie itself.

So why do I think The Ballad of Ricky Bobby isn’t only a funny, but a genuinely important inclusion in Nolan’s top films? There is, obviously, the surface level perceived irony, that a modern film darling known for dense epics that push the three-hour mark still giggles at John C. Reilly in a Speedo. The idea that he more than likely threw on Talladega Nights when the weight of the mass death contained within Oppenheimer overwhelmed him? Delightful on its face.

Also, I think, it’s very human. Art has a way of creating both artists and audiences who get so obsessed with the sanctity of their special form that the trees entirely overwhelm the forest, as the saying goes. Or, as a crasser saying goes, so that their entire skull and top three vertebrate end up engulfed in their own ass. Self-described “film buffs,” the sort of people who raise their hand at screening Q&As with “less of a question, more of a comment,” could do with remembering that movies are allowed to be entertaining. I promise they won’t kick you out of Tisch if you admit Jackass made you snort-laugh.

Look, I understand the importance of movies showing human suffering. There need to be movies for actors to show off their best snot-caked breakdown faces for Oscar season. I also know that, when I get off work, sometimes I would like to watch Will Ferrell stabbing himself in the thigh with a knife. It’s made all the more validating knowing that if Christopher Nolan himself walked by on his way to another interview about the State of Film, he might go, “Oh shit, is that Talladega Nights?”