There are many hilarious movies like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby that have the same blend of a classic underdog sports story and an absurdist sense of humor. Talladega Nights stars Will Ferrell as the title character, an arrogant NASCAR driver, opposite both Sacha Baron Cohen as a challenging F1 driver and regular collaborator John C. Reilly as his teammate and best friend. Talladega Nights was widely praised by critics (via Rotten Tomatoes) and became one of Ferrell’s biggest box office hits with a global gross of more than $163 million (via Box Office Mojo).
While Talladega Nights is a uniquely memorable movie, other comparable films are worthy of recommendation. There are other comedies set against the backdrop of motorsports, like Logan Lucky, and other movies about an ambitious daredevil who dreams a little too big, like Hot Rod. Pixar's Cars is another story about a hotshot racer being put in his place, and White Men Can’t Jump is another buddy comedy about the love of a sport. From other Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly movies like Step Brothers to other sports movies full of slapstick humor like Shaolin Soccer, here's a list of hysterical movies like Talladega Nights for fans to enjoy.
10 Semi-Pro (2008)
Talladega Nights is just one of many hilarious sports movies that Will Ferrell has made. He also appeared in Blades of Glory, which involves figure skating, Kicking & Screaming, which is set in the world of little-league soccer, and the basketball comedy Semi-Pro. Similar to Talladega Nights, Semi-Pro stars Ferrell as an arrogant athlete whose confidence is much greater than his ability. He plays Jackie Moon, a has-been disco singer who owns a failing basketball team called the Flint Tropics. He also coaches and plays on the team in spite of his lack of talent. Like Ricky Bobby, Jackie is more of a showman than a sportsman.
- Available to stream on HBO Max
9 Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Directed by and starring Kung Fu Hustle’s Stephen Chow, Shaolin Soccer revolves around a former Shaolin monk who reunites his brothers to bring their superhuman martial arts skills to the soccer field. Similar to Talladega Nights, Shaolin Soccer brings an absurdist sensibility and a bunch of hysterical slapstick gags to a traditional sports movie. It's also much more interested in having fun with its oddball premise than accurately reflecting the art of soccer. Shaolin Soccer has spawned spiritual sequels, animated homages, and comic book adaptations.
- Available to stream on Paramount+
8 Logan Lucky (2017)
Much like Talladega Nights, Logan Lucky is a ludicrous farce set against the backdrop of motorsports. It stars Adam Driver and Channing Tatum as the Logan brothers, who plan a heist at the Charlotte Motor Speedway while trying to evade FBI agents and security guards. Steven Soderbergh was so taken with the Logan Lucky script – credited to Rebecca Blunt, which is widely speculated to be a pseudonym – that he came out of retirement to direct the movie. Logan Lucky is also just as much of a fun heist movie as audiences expect from the director of the Ocean’s trilogy.
- Available to stream on Showtime
7 Uncle Drew (2018)
Based on the character of the same name from a series of Pepsi Max commercials, Uncle Drew is an anti-ageist comedy that stars Kyrie Irving as a legendary basketball player determined to win a streetball tournament in Harlem. Much like Talladega Nights, Uncle Drew is a sports movie with a giant cast of colorful comic characters. The all-star ensemble includes such revered comedians as Lil Rel Howery, J.B. Smoove, Mike Epps, Tiffany Haddish, and Nick Kroll, as well as former NBA players like Shaquille O’Neal and Nate Robinson.
- Available to rent on Apple TV
6 Hot Rod (2007)
After pioneering the “Digital Shorts” on Saturday Night Live, the comedy troupe known as The Lonely Island made their big-screen debut with Hot Rod. Andy Samberg stars as the title character, a wannabe daredevil who does dangerous stunts to raise enough money to pay for his stepdad’s life-saving surgery – just so he can beat him up when he recovers. Like Talladega Nights’ Ricky Bobby, Rod is a big dreamer whose ambitions exceed his grasp. His unwavering belief in himself makes him easy to root for him amidst all the silliness.
- Available to stream on Paramount+
5 Cars (2006)
Pixar made their own Talladega Nights-style racing movie with 2006’s Cars, which is set in a world populated with anthropomorphized automobiles. In a plot similar to Doc Hollywood, Owen Wilson voices hotshot racer Lightning McQueen, who crashes into a small town on his way to his next big race and ends up learning small-town values while working off his community service. In Cars, much like in Talladega Nights, a cocky racing driver is publicly humbled and becomes a better athlete and person in the face of adversity as he attempts to rise back to the top.
- Available to stream on Disney+
4 Ford V Ferrari (2019)
Starring Matt Damon as American automotive designer Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as British race car driver Ken Miles, Ford v Ferrari tells the true story of the Ford team’s plucky efforts to build a car capable of beating Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Ford v Ferrari tells a similar story to Talladega Nights about an intense rivalry on the racetrack. While it’s primarily a drama, Ford v Ferrari still has plenty of humor, including a hilariously anticlimactic fight between Damon and Bale's characters.
- Available to stream on Hulu
3 White Men Can't Jump (1992)
Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson star as a pair of streetball hustlers in White Men Can’t Jump. Much like Talladega Nights, White Men Can’t Jump is a buddy sports comedy about two friends bonding over their shared love of a sport — in this case, basketball. The movie puts a fresh spin on the sports movie formula with a smart script and well-matched leads. Stanley Kubrick, one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers who ever lived, even counted White Men Can’t Jump among his favorite movies (via Vanity Fair).
- Available to stream on Hulu
2 American Graffiti (1973)
The movie that earned George Lucas the clout to make Star Wars, this coming-of-age gem about the cruising and rock ‘n’ roll cultures of the 1960s follows a sprawling ensemble of teenagers who are up to no good over the last night of summer vacation. American Graffiti is the original hangout movie, presented as a series of loosely connected vignettes. Much like Talladega Nights, it’s a sharply scripted comedy about the world of auto racing — although this one revolves around illegal drag races, not professional NASCAR races.
- Available to stream on Netflix
1 Step Brothers (2008)
After developing a strong on-screen dynamic in Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly reunited for another gleefully ridiculous bromantic comedy. Instead of playing friends who become rivals like in Talladega Nights, here they play rivals who become friends, both of them middle-aged men who never left home and have to live together when their single parents get married. Like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers was directed by Adam McKay and written by Ferrell and McKay, so it shares Talladega Nights’ distinctively absurdist comedic sensibility.
- Available to stream on HBO Max
