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USED CARS
Review by Gordon Justesen
Stars: Kurt Russell,
Gerrit Graham, Frank McRae, Deborah Harmon, Jack Warden
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Audio: Dolby Surround, French & Portuguese Dolby Surround
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Columbia Tri Star
Features: See Review
Length: 113 Minutes
Release Date: February 5, 2002
“50 bucks never killed
anybody.”
Film ****
Used Cars is definitive proof that many stars in
Hollywood get their start in funny places. For Kurt Russell, it was considered
quite a leap from his days as a leading actor in numerous Disney films. He was
just coming off the rave reviews he received for his portrayal of Elvis in a
successful TV movie. It was also a big step for the director, Robert Zemeckis,
whose previous debut film, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, didn’t seem to reach
an audience. Used Cars, released at the exact same point of Airplane!,
couldn’t seem to find its deserving response. However, like many failed
opportunities, Used Cars found its audience in home video and frequent
television airings. I have just seen the film for the first time and now
consider it among the funniest films ever made by Hollywood. For a movie
released in 1980, I see the movie as one easily ahead of its time. Nearly all of
the characters in the piece, protagonist and antagonist, are wickedly despicable
in one way or another. If I can recall correctly, there had never been comedy
made in a manner like this at the time.
Russell stars as Rudy Russo, a conniving and shady used car
salesman, which is run by Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden). The competing dealership
across the street is run by Luke’s slimeball twin brother, Roy, also played by
Warden. Rudy’s true aspiration is to become a state senator, but in order to
finance a campaign, he needs $10,000. Luke agrees to front Rudy the money, but
then an orchestrated accident occurs. Roy, wanting to claim the title on his
brother’s property, has an associate pay a visit to Luke at night, on a
so-called “test drive”. The speeding test results in Luke having a monster
heart attack and dropping dead right in front of Rudy in his office, which is
just about what Roy was anticipating. What does Rudy then do? Does he call the
police, or even an ambulance? Why no, he and his two co-workers Jeff (Gerrit
Graham) and Jim the Mechanic (Frank McRae) to place Luke’s corpse in a car,
which they will bury in the back of the lot.
Rudy is now in charge of the lot, and with the cash flow
problem still on his hands, brings in two technical wizards to help him bring in
customers. They intercept such broadcastings as a football game and an address
from President Carter with outrageous commercials featuring nothing less than a
Playboy Playmate accidentally stripping down to her bare essentials, and a
cowboy taking a rifle and blowing holes in Roy’s cars because the prices are
just too high. It’s not just in the commercials where the salesman ignite acts
of lunacy. In a remarkable scene of pure lunacy, Jeff places Luke’s beagle,
Toby, under a station wagon to stage a phony accident in order to garner a
surefire sale.
It soon becomes an all out war of sales between Roy and
Rudy, but matters get even more complicated when Luke’s daughter, Barbara
(Deborah Harmon), shows up unexpectedly to meet her father, who Rudy says has
gone out of town to Miami Beach. What makes it worse is that she happens to be
from the Consumer Protection Agency, which would ruin everything for Rudy’s
little operation.
The climax of the movie is a riotous hoot if I’ve ever
seen one, with Rudy bringing in 250 drivers, many of them driver’s ed
students, to participate in a high speed run to the used car lot in order to
excuse a accusation of false advertisement. It’s quite an incredible sequence,
filled with outlandish stunts and many laughs, and has to be seen to be
believed.
Used Cars is the kind of comedy I immediately
respond to. Those with an extreme warped sense of humor will find themselves
crying laughter in numerous scenes, like I found myself doing quite frequently.
This is a comedic masterpiece that should be experienced at no extra costs. Come
on down and check it out, and remember, 50 bucks never killed anybody.
This presentation does
have its share of image flaws, but they are found mostly in the first half of
the movie. Columbia Tri Star’s anamorphic presentation is mostly nice looking,
especially for a movie that is twenty two years old. Aside from its opening
portion, which includes moments of grain and image softness, the rest of the
presentation grows much more decent as the rest of the image turn up clean and
mostly clear. All in all, what results is a more than acceptable presentation of
a movie with a dated print that may have been somewhat difficult to turn up
impressively on this format.
This disc sounds nice, but
seems like all that could be achieved from a twenty two year old movie, much
like the level of the video quality. CTS offers solely a 2.0 surround track,
which comes in nicely during the climatic auto race and other numerous action
sequences. All in all, I couldn’t really detect much surround sound in the
presentation, but dialogue-wise, what I heard came through both fair and clear.
I give this part of the disc an extra rating based on the
extremely knockout commentary track that is included. The commentary from Kurt
Russell, Robert Zemeckis, and writer/producer Bob Gale ranks as one of the most
funny and entertaining commentaries I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening
to. The three never stop laughing at both the film itself and the funny
reminisces they have of the making of the movie. Russell, in particular, is
wonderful to listen to, as he constantly pokes fun at his character right down
to the little mannerisms, which I would’ve have missed if the commentary
didn’t point out. A downright joy to listen to that should be listened to by
all that buy the disc. Also included is an outtakes real, radio spot ads, a TV
spot, a photo gallery, and trailers for the CTS releases Groundhog Day,
Multiplicity, and So I Married an Axe Murderer.
Summary: