Used Cars
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| Used Cars | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Release Poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Zemeckis |
| Produced by | Bob Gale John Milius Steven Spielberg John G. Wilson |
| Written by | Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale |
| Starring | Kurt Russell Jack Warden Gerrit Graham Deborah Harmon |
| Music by | Patrick Williams |
| Cinematography | Donald M. Morgan |
| Editing by | Michael Kahn |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 11, 1980 |
| Running time | 113 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | 6,000,000 $ |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Used Cars is a 1980 comedy satire film. It stars Kurt Russell, Jack Warden (in a dual role), Deborah Harmon, and Gerrit Graham.
Kurt Russell portrays a devious car salesman who goes to work for affable but monumentally unsuccessful used car dealer Jack Warden. Warden's principal rival is his more prosperous twin brother, also played by Warden, who schemes to take over the "good" brother's lot.
The supporting cast includes Frank McRae, David L. Lander, Michael McKean, Al Lewis, Dub Taylor, Dick Miller, and Sarah Wills.
The movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and his long-time writing partner Bob Gale with Steven Spielberg and John Milius as executive producers. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams.
Filmed primarily in Mesa, Arizona, the movie was released on July 11, 1980. Although not a box-office success at the time, it has since developed cult film status due to its dark, cynical humor and the Zemeckis style. It is also marketed with the tagline "Like new, great looking and fully loaded with laughs."
The film is rated R for violence, brief nudity, adult language and adult situations and humor.
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[edit] Synopsis
When Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), owner of the struggling New Deal Used Car lot dies of a heart attack, hot-shot salesman (and aspiring senator) Rudy Russo decides to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless twin brother and used-car rival Roy L. Fuchs (also played by Warden), whose own used car lot is under threat of demolition to facilitate the construction of a proposed new freeway exit. An all-out war breaks out between the competing car lots with Russo resorting to extremely outrageous customer-getting schemes in order to save Luke's lot, complicated even more with the arrival of Luke's daughter Barbara Jane Fuchs.
[edit] Plot
Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) is the unscrupulous sales manager of New Deal Used Cars, owned by the kindly Luke Fuchs, whose brother Roy L. Fuchs (Jack Warden) is trying to put him out of business. Roy has been unsuccessful in buying out his brother, and has resorted to setting consumer agencies on him to try and force him out. Unknown to everyone but Roy, a new freeway exit ramp is coming through the area and will take Roy's lot through eminent domain.
Rudy also wishes to get elected to the Arizona state Senate. Having saved about $40,000 to buy the nomination, Luke agrees to loan him the remaining $10,000 he needs to raise. Luke also asks Rudy to promise him that he'll do what he can to keep Roy's hands off his lot.
Luke also suffers from heart arrythmia, which is treated orally by nitroglycerin tablets. With time running short to drive his brother out of business, Roy recruits one of his mechanics, Mickey, to pose as a potential customer and destroy one of Luke's prize cars. Mickey, also a former demolition derby driver, takes a 1957 Chevy Bel Air off the lot and through his reckless driving (with Luke fearfully riding shotgun), manages to totally wreck the car, parking the wreck in front of the lot.
Luke makes his way back to his office, where Rudy, seeing that Luke has lost his pills (they flew out the window when Mickey intentionally jerks the wheel), frantically tries to revive Luke, but without success. Rudy realizes that if he calls the authorities, Roy will inherit the lot as Luke is widowed and his daughter has been gone for years to points unknown, leaving Luke with no other immediate family. Remembering his promise, he decides to bury Luke in a green and white Edsel on the lot and tells Roy (who saw Luke collapse in the office) that Luke is on a fishing charter in Miami Beach.
Rudy manages to keep the lot going through a number of gimmicks, including a disco promotion, complete with strippers. Meanwhile, Luke's daughter Barbara returns home (she had called Luke on the night he died) looking for her father. Though the lot is rightfully hers, Rudy is reluctant to tell her about her father, knowing that Barbara's lack of business acumen could lose the lot.
After Roy smears Rudy and the lot using a television camera crew capturing the stripper promotion, Rudy hires two electronics whizkids, Freddie and Eddie (David L. Lander and Michael McKean, respectively) to jam President Jimmy Carter's televised address, and replacing it with a commercial. In the commercial, Jeff, the other New Deal Used Car salesman, wearing a disguise, shoots two of Roy's higher-end cars with a rifle, and blows up a prized Mercedes with dynamite.
Roy, watching the presidential address and seeing his cars destroyed, drives down to the New Deal dealership, where he confronts Jeff. An all-out brawl erupts between the two, with Roy smashing a framed photo to use glass from it to cut Jeff. As he stares at the picture, he realizes that the grease pit on the lot is no longer there. He rushes to the pit's location and uncovers some dirt, finding the top of the Edsel's roof.
Luke's dog Toby, which has witnessed Roy's discovery, races to the garage and wakes the forever-sleeping mechanic Jim (Frank McRae) by pissing on him. An irate Jim chases Toby, who stops at the car. A shocked Jim immediately calls Rudy (who has finished making love to Barbara) informing him of the situation. Rudy pulls his clothes on and rushes to the lot, telling her he'll be back soon.
Barbara chooses to wait up for Rudy, and when dawn approaches, she becomes concerned. She sees that Rudy's answering machine has recorded the call from Jim. Though hesitant at first, Barbara rewinds the tape and plays it back. She learns the true nature of Jim's message and now knows that her father is dead.
Later, Roy and his attorney Sam Slaton appear with sheriff's deputies who are armed with a search warrant. Rudy tells everyone that Luke returned from Florida hours earlier and had run out to get breakfast before returning. In reality, the exhumed Edsel with Luke's body inside is parked behind the garage, with Jim dousing the car and Luke's body with gasoline before he drops the back of the running car from a tow truck, with the car accelerating and in the drive position.
The spectators who have gathered for proof of Luke still living are satisfied when they see him in the Edsel. However, everyone notices that he's not only speeding, but that he's headed for a power transformer across the street from the lot. The car hits the transformer and explodes in a raging fireball, destroying all evidence of the cover-up.
Roy, knowing now for sure that his brother's dead, orders Rudy off the lot, which he presumes to have inherited. Rudy tells Roy the truth about Luke's daughter, and that she is the rightful heir. Barbara shows up and begs Rudy to tell her the truth about her father. Rudy at first makes an attempt, but forms another lie when he sees Slaton standing nearby. Unable to tolerate any more lies, Barbara fires Rudy, Jeff and Jim.
Barbara tries to make a go of it on her own, even going so far as to buy some television airtime. When Roy learns that the freeway ramp is going to be announced the next day, he pays off someone at the TV station to doctor the tape, making her stumbled phrase "style of cars" to sound like "mile of cars", creating a case of false advertising against the lot.
The day the commercial airs at their favorite bar, Rudy wins a $40,000 football bet he placed to try and raise more campaign money, but only after the superstitious Jeff (who bet the other team) throws the game through a series of incidents like spilling salt, walking under a ladder, and breaking a mirror.
The following day, Rudy learns that the lot has been closed by court order, while in a car with the party chairman as he's preparing to give them the money to buy his nomination. When he hears that the judge is not going to be lenient with Barbara, he takes the money and bolts from the vehicle while in traffic, running to the courthouse.
Rudy arrives as Barbara takes the stand. As she's questioned by Slaton, Rudy mouths to her to answer Slaton's questions in the affirmative, one being "Do you or do you not have a mile of cars on your lot?" When she answers yes, court recesses, but will resume at the lot.
Rudy and Barbara take Rudy's $50,000 and head to Manuel, Rudy's inventory supplier of used cars. With the money, they buy 250 used cars at $200 apiece. With the help of 250 driver's ed students, they get 249 cars (they lose one in a wreck) to the lot. Slaton, not licked yet, orders every car measured. When the last one is measured, it's determined to be 2 inches short of a mile. A triumphant Roy slams his hand down on the trunk, causing the rear license plate door concealing the gas tank to drop down. The judge takes the tape measure to the end of the door, making it an even mile of cars. Case dismissed.
Barbara finally forgives Rudy, now her new business partner, as well as her lover.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kurt Russell | Rudolph 'Rudy' Russo |
| Jack Warden | Roy L. Fuchs / Luke Fuchs |
| Gerrit Graham | Jeff |
| Frank McRae | Jim |
| Deborah Harmon | Barbara Jane Fuchs |
| Joe Flaherty | Sam Slaton |
| David L. Lander | Freddie Paris |
| Michael McKean | Eddie Winslow |
| Michael Talbott | Mickey |
| Alfonso Arau | Manuel |
| Al Lewis | Judge H. H. Harrison |
| Woodrow Parfrey | Mr. Chartner |
| Dub Taylor | Tucker |
[edit] Trivia
- The set for "Roy L. Fuchs Pre-owned Automobiles" was actually a working new car dealership in Mesa, Arizona. Darner Chrysler-Plymouth offered the use of their lot for the film, including the abandoned property across the street that they owned. The latter served as the set for New Deal Used Cars. Kurt Russell also consented to doing commercials for dealer Bob Darner in exchange for using the lot.
[edit] External links
- Used Cars at the Internet Movie Database
- Used Cars at Allmovie
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