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‘Cars’: Stuck in neutral
We’d never really thought of James Taylor as the voice of doom, but darned if he’s not.
Right in the middle of “Cars,” the Disney-Pixar film opening Friday, race car Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is getting a life lesson from love interest Sally (Bonnie Hunt). Sally is the biggest cheerleader for urban renewal in Radiator Springs, the sleepy desert town on Route 66 where Lightning has been waylaid while on the way out to California for a big race. You can tell Lightning likes her because he listens politely while she talks about how the interstate killed her town instead of restlessly gunning his engine.
Now, already this is dubious ground for a kids’ film, unless your kid happens to be into Jane Jacobs, but then, just to make sure the moment sets some sort of new standard for preachiness, here comes Sweet Baby James on the soundrack with a dirge about how “Main Street isn’t Main Street anymore.”
Sigh.
The moment is the nadir of the film’s long, meandering middle. Things start out promisingly enough with a huge race that will rock your world even if you’ve never held the slightest interest in NASCAR. It’s loud and colorful, and the premise of the movie — cars rule the Earth — seems just really, really cool.
The plot is established quickly: Lightning is an overconfident hotshot who thinks he doesn’t need anyone’s help. Ah. Fine, we think. He’ll end up in this small town, make friends, realize the value of teamwork and there’ll be another big race at the end. Gotcha.
And that’s where things do end up, but there are too many wrong turns along the way. The residents of Radiator Springs just don’t have the charm of a certain group of toys we know, and the voice acting is nothing special. Larry the Cable Guy, as a tow truck, actually does the best work — perhaps because he’s a bit of a cartoon himself.
The real problem, though, is sloppy plotting. For a huge stretch of the film, there’s not what you would call a story going on. There’s just stuff happening.
It’s striking to note that “Cars” clocks in at a flabby 1 hour, 56 minutes. “Toy Story” was 1 hour, 21 minutes, and “Toy Story 2” was 1 hour, 25 minutes. “A Bug’s Life” was 1 hour, 36 minutes. And all of them had far richer stories than what you’ll find in “Cars.”
It’s not a total wash. There are plenty of cute cameos, with everyone from Richard Petty to the “Car Talk” guys showing up. A bit with tractors acting like cows is funny. The whole movie is as gorgeous to look at as you’d expect. Things do pick up toward the end. The story moves back to the racetrack for more visceral excitement, and the ending is uncommonly sweet. Stay around for the closing credits, which feature a very funny self-referential joke and are more lively than much of the movie itself.
The other grown-up in our party was equally let down. The 13-year-old declared it less funny but more heartwarming than past Pixar movies, and said he enjoyed it even though he saw some plot problems. The little kids sitting around us at the preview screening seemed restless, but a friend who was also there reports that her boys were entranced.
Meanwhile, we’ll try to get past our disappointment. Maybe “Talladega Nights” will be better.
Comments
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By michael wallis
June 11, 2006 5:37 PM | Link to this
What a shame that you missed the entire point of CARS! Some folks are wed to generic America and obviously that is your camp. Too bad.
You should break away from your shopping malls, franchise eateries, etc. sometime and get back on the 85 percent of Route 66 that is still there. That was the whole point my short-sighted pals. You missed it big time.
By Sally Carera of Radiator Springs AKA Dawn Welch of Stroud, OK
June 6, 2006 1:05 PM | Link to this
As the real Sally of Route 66 I dare you to come for a visit in the small town of Stroud, Oklahoma and not have realized something about your own life. You sound a little Lighting McQueen to me!!