1980 / 111 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale J. Nauertz

Much like “The Exorcist” and “Jaws”, “National Lampoon’s Animal House” was a box-office juggernaut whose appeal was so simple that it inspired a platoon of lame knock-offs. Hollywood producers and execs, eager to exploit any success, decided that the public wanted demons and ravenous fish, and made boatloads of movies that cheapened the originals by pandering to their audience’s most basic interests and ripping off as many elements of the successful films as possible. With “Animal House”, those same producers seemed to decide that all it took to make a hit comedy were tits and men without scruples. A plethora of soulless, hollow, T&A-filled dreck like “Porky’s” (that movie sucks, I don’t care what anyone says), “Private School” and “Screwballs” followed. Miraculously, despite all these horrible knock-offs, “Animal House” has retained its sterling reputation and is a movie that is still beloved, admired, referenced and quoted to death to this very day.

Having said that, I am willing to forgive all the terrible movies “Animal House” spawned for one simple reason: “Used Cars” got greenlit.

At first glance, “Used Cars” looks like just another “Animal House” knock-off. It’s filled with T&A. Its characters are often deceitful men. Their schemes are bold, sometimes juvenile, and often misogynistic. So far, the film follows the “Animal House” formula to a “T”, merely replacing frat boys with dishonest used car salesmen, getting laid with making money and getting revenge on another frathouse with revenge on the car lot across the street.

Fortunately, however, the film proves even funnier than the movie it is ostensibly ripping off and is perhaps even darker in blackly hilarious exploration of the shadowy corners of the human soul.

There are many ways in which “Used Cars” vanquishes “Animal House”. First of all: the skill with which it is made. Before he succumbed to making family films, pushing the special effects envelope and flirted with cloying sentimentality in movies like “The Polar Express” and “Contact”, Robert Zemeckis was a brilliant entertainer who brought an anachronistic sense of glee to every film he made. Even in prestigious flicks like “Forrest Gump” and “CastAway” his edgy sense of humor and giddy sense of experimentation are almost palpable. But in the heyday of his early career, it was his most defining characteristic. Even his biggest failure, the script for buddy Steven Spielberg’s bombastic war comedy “1941″, is nearly saved by his giddy enthusiasm and wacky zest for chaos and absurdity. His sense of chaos and absurdity are evident in every frame of “Used Cars” and make even the most despicable of his characters’ actions somehow palatable. We shouldn’t be able to root for a man who fakes the death of a dog in order to sell a car, or tricks a woman into toplessness on regional television just to push a few more Buick Centurions off the lot, but Zemeckis and partner Bob Gale’s riotous and streamlined screenplay assures that we do. The film starts with a few small set pieces and then proceeds to get bigger and bigger, escalating into ever more ludicrous displays of capitalist chicanery and making every new scheme feel like a natural and believable development. He and his conspirators flirt with going over the top at each and every turn, and yet leave us in the audience hungry for more. This may seem simple but many lesser films have tried and failed at this same gambit. Zemeckis has a golden touch for material like this, whether it be his gift with outlandish situations (he worked the same magic in “Back to the Future” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”) or his obvious love and enthusiasm for cinema. At his best, Zemeckis isn’t so much a director as a ring leader, indicating which ring of his elaborate circus will entertain us next.

The ring leader in front of the camera is every bit as important, of course, and Zemeckis was lucky enough to enlist the services of Kurt Russell to play Rudy Russo, used car salesman extarordinaire and aspiring state senator. Russell was simply born to play a winning ladies man and silver-tongued devil who can literally talk anyone into buying anything and, conversely, talk his way out of any trouble. This was Russell’s first major leap from Disney flicks to more adult fare and he hits it out of the park. Tim Matheson’s lovably scheming Eric Stratton from “Animal House” can’t hold a candle to Russell here. He’s a true sleazeball, but he’s never anything less than lovable. He’s got a twinkle in his eye and an “aw shucks” grin that are sure to have every viewer eating out of the palm of his hand no matter how underhanded his methods. He’s like a human version of Bugs Bunny. Its a truly effortless performance, and one of the main reasons that I still love Kurt Russell, no matter how many crappy films he winds up in. (In fact, watching this movie again inspired me to watch nothing but Kurt Russell films for the rest of the week…a decision I shall never, ever regret despite the number of netflix discs going unwatched atop my television.)

The rest of the cast is equally winning. Frank McRae is awesome as Jim the Mechanic. His character is the standard sassy black guy, it’s sadly true, but McRae invests it with such chutzpah that he nearly steals every scene he’s in. (McRae also did excellent work as the blustery police captain in “48 Hrs”, a role he’s repeated in several films since. In fact, his fine work there set the template for every blustery, black police captain in a film ever since.) Grand Scene Larceny is also perpetrated by co-star Gerrit Graham. Graham has only played a handful of roles, but his work as Russo’s superstitious co-salesman Jeff is so spectacular it makes one wish he had done more. Graham is simply a wonder to behold, all bug-eyed incredulity and foul-mouthed bravado. He seems reluctant to engage in Rudy’s more outlandish schemes, yet he steps up to the plate and makes them work more brilliantly than they ever otherwise could have. Deborah Harmon doesn’t fare as well in her thankless role as the token love interest, but she does what she can. You almost buy that she’s sweet enough to change Rudy of his more despicable character tendencies. Almost.

But more than any of the other supporting actors in this film special mention must be made of the late, great Jack Warden. Warden plays two roles here: as the mostly dead, heart-of-gold car lot owner Luke Fuchs and as his treacherous, scheming asshole of a brother Roy L. He’s amazing in both roles. Seriously, he should have won a fucking Oscar. He’s as sweet and warm-hearted as Luke as he is black-hearted and Shakespearianly evil as Roy L. That one genius actor would have it in him to play such disparate and extreme poles of human potential to comedic perfection is frankly mind-boggling.

I have spoken of great writing (an area in which this film trumps “Animal House”), sheer laughs (another area) and great performances (yet another) but I have not yet mentioned the true strengths of this majestic triumph of cinematic hilarity. For one, it has plenty of excellent and oft outrageous car stunts. For another, it explores the greed inherent in capitalism as efficiently as Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street”. Yet a third strength are the truly gut-busting comedic set pieces peppered throughout the film from Luke’s memorable death scene to the commercial interruption of a presidential address to the finale that involves both vehicular mayhem, student driving, and unscrupulous Mexican car dealers. Yes, my friends, this film comes fully loaded.

In short, “Used Cars” is secretly one of the greatest comedies ever made. It’s the funniest movie you haven’t seen and you should run, not walk, to your local DVD dealership or Netflix cue to procure yourself a copy of this cinematic masterpiece as soon as humanly possible. If not, the ghost of Jack Warden will likely hound you into insanity. And when he does, don’t come bitching to me. I tried to warn you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.