Cars
Pixar is the safest entertainment bet in town. That said, when I see what was really an uninteresting-looking preview with some anthropomorphized cars being concerned about winning the big race, I ran out to see it. If it had been by Dreamworks or Warner Brothers, I think I would have skipped it. But Pixar has more than earned the benefit of the doubt. I know I will be treated to developed characters, lots of great little details, and generally something more than I bargained for.
It is impressive enough to take a machine that is rigid and make it feel natural in its movements. It was very smart to make the eyes the windshield instead of the headlights (for more than one reason) - avoiding the creepy “empty car” feeling you get watching the claymation Chevron commercials. These cars aren’t driven by people, they are the people, and that is unique in the John Lasseter oeuvre. Toy Story, Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, all these stories have entities in their real-life natural environment having people-like adventures that only characters with their characteristics could have (i.e. a toy that doesn’t know he’s a toy, a fish lost at sea, ants battling grasshoppers). Here, the cars are the people of the world; they drive, they fuel themselves up, they need jobs and companionship and they have to be infused with the same level of personality as any other lead species in order to win our sympathy. Pixar has done it again.
Owen Wilson is a flashy red race car who (not that, who) has a high-stakes race he has to get to, but ends up stranded in little near-ghost town off the beaten path, populated by a delightful little world of characters. I have to say, it was interesting to see this movie on the same weekend as An Inconvenient Truth, because Cars really reminds us of the American love affair with the automobile as a venue of freedom and pleasure. In the urban sprawls today, we are more held prisoner by our car, having to drive to the store, to the food, to the entertainment, sitting in horrible traffic waiting to get from hither to thither. Cars reminds us of when we took Route 66 to leisurely tour the countryside, enjoy the scenery, stop and smell the roses. In this movie, cars seem too benevolent to be producing any pollution. Driving is a lost joy rather than an annoying chore.
Now, the story arc of a fast-lane guy learning the value of something more important in life than winning is not a new one. Having it enacted by cars gives that old tale something special. I know I tend to feel like my car is my loyal steed; more cars than not in my life have had more personality than flash, and sometimes we all think a little coaxing will do more than a little oil. As an adult driver today, the other cars are all anonymous boxes stuffed with shadows. Leaving the parking lot after cars, I could almost see that minivan stretching its wheel out to wave me through the intersection. The cars, and their drivers, felt like living things again, just for a little while (traffic has a way of erasing those magical moments), and I could appreciate the life given to these automotive characters a little more. Rationally I know those are people in those anonymous, gas guzzling boxes, but that day, we were all folks trapped in traffic who would rather be waving at each other along a beautiful stretch of road on a casual drive.
The cast is great. Paul Newman as a cantankerous but still vital ‘51 Hudson Hornet, Tony Shaloub as a passionate Fiat, Bonnie Hunt as the big city Porsche who found a home with these misfits, and the surprisingly delightful Larry the Cable Guy as a rusty ol’ tow truck named Mater, among others. The voice acting and correlative car acting is great, as always. The characters aren’t interesting just to all be different from each other; their personalities serve a purpose, and are driven by their model and trim lines as much as their life experience. Naturally, stay through the credits, it’s a nice payoff.
Maybe I read too much into my experience watching Cars, but it was a romantic look at something I have felt pretty negative about for a long time, and that was a surprising and welcome gift.
MPAA Rating G
Release date 6/9/06
Time in minutes 114
Director John Lasseter, Joe Ranft
Studio Disney/Pixar
