Movie Review: Cars

Sometimes, Martin goes to the movies. Oft Times, he'll REVIEW these movies. We call it...

Rant At the Screen

Pixar makes good movies. Seeing a Pixar film reminds you of what a good movie LOOKS like. I don't know what a bad movie, or even just an okay movie looks like from Pixar. Never seen one. So, enter Cars.

Cars has been compared with "Doc Hollywood", and there is a little basis for that comparison. A basic rundown of the plot will tell you the same. Lightneen McQueen, rookie spotster, is competing for the Piston Cup, hoping to be the first rookie to win it in his first year. All he really cares about is self-aggrandizement. After a freak accident, he becomes trapped in the town of Radiator Springs on decrepit Route 66, and learns lessons about life, morales, love, and picks up tricks on how he can really win the Piston Cup. Cliche'd story, and we've all seen it in one form or another.

Cars is long. Two hours of film. The racing segments span about half an hour on each end, with an hour long bit devoted to the second act. We're given plenty of time to cozy up to the small-town ideals, and witness some real travesty of neglect. Things are actually evocative. Even the voice actors! Owen Wilson carries himself well, finding the same sincerity he possessed in Wedding Crashers and bringing it to good use. The real surprise in embodied in LARRY THE CABLE GUY (I never thought I would type this). He brings a ton of heart into the film, and the lion's share of the laughs.

Every bit of the "city hero who finds a better life among rural folk" is here, from the forgotten mentor, the city girl gone to the country, to the decay of rural America montage. What makes this film better than it's peers, however, is that EVERY cliche is used to maximum effect, and feels effortless and natural. Almost no bits seem tacked on.

Go see this film. I give it five out of five Pixar films.