Cars
Written by Robert L. Baird, Dan Fogelman, Dan Gerson, Bonnie Hunt, Jorgen Klubien, Don Lake, John Lasseter, Phil Lorin, Kiel Murray, Joe Ranft
Directed by John Lasseter; co-directed by Joe Ranft
Disney
2006
Rating:


In (finally) collecting an Oscar for his song for "Monsters, Inc.," Randy Newman compared Pixar's streak of animated excellence to the oeuvre of Peter Weir, who crafted eight critically acclaimed films in a row beginning with 1974's "The Cars That Ate Paris" through 1989's "Dead Poets Society," making "Gallipoli" and "Witness" among others along the way.

If that's true, then "Cars" must be considered Pixar's "Green Card." Despite its technical panache, "Cars" has more in common with Disney's "Chicken Little" than Pixar high-watermark "The Incredibles." There's something seriously wrong at the Pixar house when it's lifting jokes wholesale from Disney's execrable "Home on the Range" and Larry the Cable Guy provides the only source of character endearment.

Where "Monsters, Inc.," was an amiable rehash of the "secret life of…" buddy comedy of the far superior "Toy Story" films, "Cars'" blindly nostalgic plot ambitions are even more hackneyed and trite, borrowing liberally from, of all things, "Doc Hollywood," "The Karate Kid" and, coincidentally, "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

Owen Wilson gives voice to stock car Lightning McQueen, a selfish and narcissistic "big city" car on the verge of being the first rookie ever to win the Piston Cup. McQueen believes his success is all his own doing, and doesn't care much when his pit crew quits on him because of his glory-hounding. While on the way to Los Angeles for the deciding race against dastardly Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton) and retiring champ The King (real NASCAR champion Richard Petty), McQueen gets lost and ends up destroying the main street in the sleep town of Radiator Springs. Judge Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) is eager to get McQueen out of town, but Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) convinces him and the rest of the town to make McQueen repave the road.

Initially incensed at being held in the town and forced to do hard labor, McQueen becomes best friends with lovably dimwitted tow truck Tow Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and falls for city-transplant Sally. Predictable lessons about the glories of slow, small town life and the value of teamwork ensue.

In many ways an homage to Route 66, "Cars" fails to bring the nation together in the same manner as that mythical road. Big city dwellers are consistently dismissed as impetuous jerks, and the depiction of the nobility of small towns smacks of condescension. "Cars" also has the misfortune of arriving during an increasing gas crisis. That would be easy to ignore, but "Cars" goes out of its way to depict alternative fuels as crackpot hippie talk in the guise of the stoned VW bus Fillmore (voiced by "crackpot hippie" George Carlin).

Despite having been written by a small army of writers including Pixar's dearly departed in-house genius Joe Ranft and Hunt, the story underserves Lasseter and Ranft's direction and the work of the animators. The CGI rendering of the cars and Midwestern landscapes is truly awe-inspiring in its photorealism.

But that doesn't keep the characters, and the film, from feeling soulless. Pixar has turned toys, ants and fish into humanly emoting things, but the same cannot be said of their anthropomorphizing of automobiles. This comes as a surprise given Lasseter based his character design on the 1952 Disney short "Susie, the Little Blue Coupe," but none of the cars here exhibit a fraction of Susie's personality.

Part of the problem is the misplaced voice casting. Animation voice vets like Billy West ("Futurama," "The Ren & Stimpy Show") have long complained about the pointless use of celebrities for voiceovers, a trend that began with Mel Gibson's casting in 1995's "Pocahontas" and intensified with the all-star cast of "Shrek." "Cars" may be the biggest argument against using marquee names. The usually endearing Wilson is irksome as McQueen, and his laidback tone is the antithesis of McQueen's need for speed. Only minor stars Tony Shalhoub (as Italian tire salesman Luigi) and Larry the Cable Guy bring any life to their vehicles.

"Cars" may be slightly less fun than playing with Hot Wheels, but there's still hope for Pixar: even Weir bounced back from "Green Card" to make "Fearless," "The Truman Show" and "Master and Commander: The Far End of the World"; Pixar's upcoming "Ratatouille" could be a return to greatness.

Posted Friday, June 16, 2006

Link to this review:
http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/film/cars