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Life Out of the Fast Lane Watching "Cars" for the first time at home, slack-jawed at the images on my television, I was struck by how far computer animation has come in the past ten years. When "Toy Story" was released in the fall of 1995, it represented an astonishing breakthrough, the first fully computer-animated movie. Now just over ten years later, industry analysts are bemoaning the glut of sub-par CGI films released this year, but Pixar remains the gold standard. Its films are both visually imaginative and are consistently entertaining, with likable characters and more often than not, real emotion culled from those bits and bytes you see on screen. "Cars" is a little different than most of Pixar's films; its main theme, about slowing down to experience life out of the fast lane, will probably be lost on most kids. They'll likely be more interested in whether stock car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) will make it to his big race or not after he's sidetracked in a small town along old Route 66. The hotshot racer meets all kind of cars in Radiator Springs, including Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), whose past is unknown to the rest of the town, and love interest Sally (Holly Hunter). Um, if you're wondering about that last one, so am I. The majority of the film takes place in Radiator Springs, book-ended by two thrilling races for the prestigious Piston Cup. Before his detour, Lightning only cared about himself, and lost his bid to win the Cup. After learning about friendship and life on the old Mother Road, he gets a new lease on life. Does it help him win? Sure, in a sense. Director John Lasseter ("Toy Story") explains in a short featurette included on the DVD that the astonishing success of Pixar was keeping him away from his family, and so he took time off to travel the country with them. It was this trip, and his love of cars, that subsequently led to the development of "Cars." While this movie doesn't have the same emotional tug as "Finding Nemo" or "Monsters, Inc.," it is nonetheless a sweet story.
Sharp-eyed (and eared) viewers will get a kick out of spotting the many inside jokes in the film. The mountains that rise behind the town of Radiator Springs bear a striking resemblance to the famous Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, and for the second time in a row, a Pixar film connects to the world of public radio! Click and Clack, Tom & Ray Magliozzi, provide the voices for Rusty and Dusty, sales reps for Lightning McQueen's sponsor company, Rust-Eze. Finally, the DVD of "Cars" looks and sounds fantastic. The roaring engines and music of Sheryl Crow will really give your home theater speakers a workout, and the candy-colored cars on screen, not to mention the simulated neon signage in Radiator Springs, will have you marveling at what good computer animators can do. I was a bit skeptical about whether a movie populated by talking autos could really sustain my interest, but "Cars" mostly succeeds in being another entertaining family film from Pixar, which continues its winning streak.
11/13/06 Back to the main Cinema Tuesdays Reviews page More about the Cinema Tuesdays series  |
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