Young Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) was born in the back seat of his daddy's car, as his mom was trying to get to the hospital. Unfortunately his dad decided that it was just time to go fast.
A few years later, we stop in on Ricky in elementary school, and it's career day. As the teacher calls on him, and he tells her that his dad isn't there, suddenly his dad shows up, to tell everyone that he's a race car driver, and to dispense the ultimate wisdom: "If you're not first, you're last."
It is these words that Ricky Bobby will live by for quite some time.
Some years later, Ricky and his best friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly) are serving on the crew team of a NASCAR driver when the driver, who is running in last place like usual, decides that he would rather eat a chicken sandwich than finish the race. So Ricky jumps in and a legend is born.
Before long, however, Ricky's father's words of wisdom come to be the words that he lives by, as do his wife (who he met when she flashed him from the stands) and his children (who regularly abuse everyone they see as inferior).
All good things come to an end, however, and it's not long before Ricky is challenged by the latest thing on the track, a Formula One driver hired to perhaps not be quite as abrasive as he is. When Ricky crashes and loses his nerve, it's all but over. Ricky is soon delivering pizzas (by bicycle), and he even loses his wife to his "friend" Cal, who can't understand why they can't be friends.
That's when his long-lost dad shows up again, to help him regain what he has lost.
First helping him to realize that he needs to be calm by riding in the car with a lioness (or other large cat, I'm not quite sure), then by driving while blindfolded, Ricky slowly gets his groove back, and soon he's ready to race, but he still doesn't have a sponsor, so he goes it alone, and then he's in the big race, going up against everyone in order to prove them wrong.
I've never been a huge Will Ferrell fan, but this one is better than some. There are moments that are probably a bit too much for your younger kids, so you may want to judge for yourself if it's really appropriate or not.
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence.
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