2006年VOA标准英语-Will Ferrell Finds New Comedic Vehicle in 'Tall

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
05 August 2006

High speed, high thrills auto¹ racing² under the banner of NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) is one of the most popular spectator sports across the heartland of America. This fact has apparently³ reached Hollywood and the result is a new film comedy starring Will Ferrell as a champion driver. Alan Silverman has this look at Talladega Nights: The Ballad⁴ of Ricky Bobby.

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Ricky Bobby may not be the brightest bulb in the pack, but he definitely knows how to pull away from the pack as he drives his "Team Wonder Bread" car to win one championship after another:

A crisis of confidence sends Ricky Bobby's career into a spin-out; but through determination, grit⁵ and, just plain ignorance, he climbs back behind the wheel.

Talladega Nights is co-written and directed by Adam Mckay, who began his collaboration⁶ with Will Ferrell on the TV sketch⁷ comedy show "Saturday Night Live." McKay says this auto racing comedy is in the tradition of their 2004 hit comedy film about a TV newscaster, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

"The very first thing we had was just the name, Ricky Bobby," said Mr. McKay.  "As soon as we had that Will started doing the character and I said 'all right, I think we can do a movie based on this.'"

Like all professional sports, the NASCAR circuit is filled with flamboyant⁸ personalities⁹, but Will Ferrell won't admit to basing this film's central character on any one of them:

"I can't really say that it came from any one person or thought or anything. As Adam and I wrote the script it just evolved," said Mr. Ferrell.  "He's just kind of an amalgamation¹⁰, in my mind, of the brash, cocky, Southern race car driver. It's just our fun way of playing around with the stereotype¹¹.

However, very aware of how serious NASCAR fans are about the races, Ferrell insists the film is not mocking them or their passion for fast cars.

"When we started talking to NASCAR, we were very clear that we wanted to show off the sport in terms of the actual racing," he added.  "We wanted to make that real and intense and make that as authentic¹² as possible.  For us, this wasn't so much a movie about making fun of characters sitting in the stands and the fans; it was more about the outlandish characters that exist in this world. We feel like we struck that balance between having fun, but not poking¹³ too much fun."

Sexy Carly Bobby is played, with gusto and really tight outfits¹⁴, by Leslie Bibb. "Sometimes people think 'less is more;' Carly thinks 'more is more.' I love her because she is so blunt," she explains.  "Don't ask her opinion, because you will not like the response and she always does it with a smile, which is very Southern, I think. 'I smile, so it's okay.'"

John C. Reilly co-stars as Ricky Bobby's teammate and sidekick, Cal. "I really like about Will and Adam that they don't try to 'dumb down' their material," he noted¹⁵.  "They're not afraid of putting intellectual, weird¹⁶ things into these big, broad comedies.  For instance, in the final race when I'm talking to my crew chief about how to process what just happened with me and Ricky, Adam said 'say, like, when Kierkegaard wrote about the relativity ...' and I said 'what do you mean, Kierkegaard? What are you talking about?' He answered 'just say it.' They don't try to make it a little less intelligent for the audience so they get it. They go, purely¹⁷, with what they think is funny and interesting and they encourage that from other people."

Ferrell calls it a balancing act between clever verbal humor and silly slapstick physical comedy. "While these types of comedies are extremely broad, we still like to have the audience come away with these different types of clever lines. That's just a mixture of the actors the find who are able to improvise¹⁸ and our awesome¹⁹ writing," added Mr. Ferrell.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby also features English comic actor Sacha Baron²⁰ Cohen, Oscar nominee²¹ Amy Adams and cameos by several real life NASCAR champions including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Darrell Walltrip.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

5 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

6 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

7 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

8 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

9 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

10 amalgamation   

n.合并，重组；；汞齐化

参考例句：

• We look towards the amalgamation of some of the neighborhood factories.我们指望合并一些里弄工厂。
• The proposed amalgamation of the two institutes has mow fallen through.这两个研究所打算合并的事现在已经落空了。

11 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

12 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

13 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

14 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

17 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

18 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

19 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

20 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

21 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。