Cars

Reviewed by Jeff Jacoby
June 13, 2006

Studio: Disney/Pixar Website: Click Here MPAA: Rated G Review Rating: 9.25 out of 10

About 20 minutes into the film, I was summing up the plot as a computer generated merging of Days of Thunder and Doc Hollywood . Lightning Mcqueen (Owen Wilson) is a stereotypical young egotistical racing rookie who wants to win the Piston Cup at any cost. He doesn't have friends or family support because his fat ego is in the way, but he thinks he can win it all by himself. As he travels to California for the championship race he gets stranded in this quaint little town in the middle of nowhere, off where else… Route 66. Then all of sudden, the Pixar magic kicked in.

Award ceremony at the Piston Cup. Courtesy Yahoo Movies .

Pixar magnificently humanized its animated characters with chuckle provoking dialogue from some fantastic voice actors. The chemistry between Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen) as the hotrod ego, Paul Newman (Doc Hudson) as the town patriarch, and Larry the Cable Guy (Mater) as the local prankster and tow-truck is nothing less than hilarious and heart-warming—a very pleasant combination.

Lightning gets caught speeding and accidentally destroying the main road of Radiator Junction. His punishment… he has to repair the road by hauling around a tar spitting contraption. But what gets repaired is his life. He makes friends and finds his inner self.

The film is full of laughs and a few touching moments.

I recommend this film be seen regardless of ticket price. It's solid entertainment, and in fact, after bonding with the characters for 1-hour and 57-minutes I was already wishing for a sequel. I'll definitely add this film to my Disney/Pixar DVD collection.

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