Goodbye Solo (***)

Solo is a Senegalese cabbie in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who, in the first scene, agrees to take a cranky old white guy on a long, one-way trip to a mountaintop, a few weeks in the future. The two-character drama, not the light plot, is the draw here. Gregarious Solo, a loving stepfather to his Hispanic wife’s daughter, worms his way into the life of the older man, who wavers between resentment, disinterest, and a grudging sort of friendship. It’s clear what the plan is for the end of the trip, and it isn’t a surprise party, but the reasons remain vague, frustrating Solo, and me.

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viewed at Ritz Bourse and reviewed 5/12/09

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (***)

? Will Farrell re-teamed up with his Anchorman cowriter Adam McKay for this tale of a North Carolina NASCAR racer whose swagger is crimped by a new challenger, a gay Frenchman. Sasha Baron Cohen plays the rival with an accent purposely silly enough to rival Peter Sellers’s Inspector Clouseau. John C. Reilly plays his fellow driver, perennial sidekick, and all-around BFF. Story-wise, it’s sort of an adult version of Cars.

+ Interesting setting, goofy humor (like the way Ricky Bobby insists on praying to “Baby Jesus”), clever ending, convincing performance by Ferrell, even when his character seems to be undergoing some too-rapid transformations. Reilly has some of the funniest moments, yet brings a lot of heart to his dim-bulb character.

- Occasionally goofiness becomes silliness. It would have been interesting to see more of the kind of cultural satire hinted at when the Frenchman makes his first appearance at a local bar. The product placement for a certain chain restaurant borders on the obnoxious.

= *** It should appeal to Anchorman fans, as it tells a similar story of a selfish hotshot who suffers a fall and has to cope with a new rival who threatens both his status and his cultural values. The humor is probably more consistent than in Anchorman.

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