Cars (2006)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Main character is successful in their chosen career but feels something is missing from his/her life. Is also a bit of a d***. Circumstances beyond his/her control force him/her to spend time in a small town with a cast of ‘colourful’ characters, where he/she will learn how to not be a d***. Said cast may or may not include a grizzled, older dude/woman from whom the main character can learn valuable life lessons. Cast will definitely include a good-looking local barkeep/hotel owner/artisanal craftsperson, who will begin by patronising and being patronised by our hero/heroine for being a ‘big city type’, but will eventually fall for them (because reasons) and be a nice reward for the hard work of no longer being a d***. The stakes are as low as they can be, so we can feel comfy and cosy throughout the viewing experience, and come away with the heart-warming confirmation that there is nothing worth learning about life, that can’t be learned from small town America.
Congratulations, you have now experienced the plot of every Hallmark movie ever and a large proportion of romantic comedies. And also, the movie Cars.
Of course, I am both exaggerating and being facetious (I do that), but you get my point? Cars is not a bad movie, definitely not, but it’s not the completely original, jaw-dropping, emotionally-draining experience that most Pixar movies are. Although it’s a perfectly fine film to watch, and design-wise is an exuberant success, when you start to compare Cars to something like Up, you, unfortunately, notice that it suffers from a distinct lack of originality. And when you think about all the ‘big city type goes to small town to learn about the true meaning of whatever’ movies that there are, you realise you can predict every plot beat.
I’ve often wondered why Cars was quite as successful as it was, and presumably it was successful, since it’s had two sequels plus the two Planes movies (which we’ll also have to watch - sigh); but let’s face it, Disney wasn’t putting out films anything like as good as Cars around this time, and nor was Dreamworks. So perhaps it was just in the right place at the right time?
And there’s certainly a lot to like in Cars, most especially the artwork and the music. The backgrounds are breathtaking and the car characters are a huge success - who ever thought you could make relatable characters from cars?? The soundtrack is also really nice, especially the James Taylor song, capturing the nostalgic tone that the movie is going for and managing to remain melancholy, without being sentimental. And Pixar have had their usual fun with creating an immersive world for these characters, complete with lots of satisfying car puns and great sense of humour.
And the characters are pretty good too, but again they’re like archetypes from this genre of film, rather than characters in their own right. McQueen is probably a bit too objectionable at the beginning of the film, and his change of heart does happen rather suddenly, but Owen Wilson is such a likeable actor that he pulls it off. Mater is also a good character. He could be annoying, but in smallish doses he is pretty funny. And though he is the hilarious ‘village idiot’ character, the movie wisely gives him something to teach McQueen, so he isn’t just the butt of all the jokes. Apart from these two, the rest of characters are sadly unoriginal. There’s one or two too many of the ‘colourful small town’ characters, so they blend into the background, and the love interest could be pulled from the movie without it having any impact whatsoever. Doc Hudson is OK, but we’ve seen his type so many times before that he fails to make much of an impression.
I don’t think this film was a cash-grab, by any means - though its sequels may have been. A lot of heart went into the making of Cars, and you do end up rooting for the main characters and happily going along for the ride. Of course you do, it’s Pixar. It’s just maybe a ride you’ve been on before.