Used Cars (DVD)

...upon how you feel about used car salesman, nude women, specatacular car stunts, and the President of the United States." (In this case, Prez Jimmy Carter, lol). Kurt Russell, in his first adult film role (!), plays used car salesman Rudy Russo who will do ANYTHING to sell a car. He works for Luke Fuchs, a man with a bad heart but a warm, irresistable personality. Luke's brother Roy (both of the Fuchs are played by veteren Jack Warden) owns a ...
...too, as his nemesis, though USED CARS also has an unbelievable supporting cast. David L. Lander and Michael McKean (who played Squiggy and Lenny, respectively, in the TV show LAVERNE & SHIRLEY) are great as two of Russell's partners in TV hijacking; Frank McRae is also great as a mechanic who will sometimes say "Oh, just get in the MF'ing car" just to make you spin the car around the block. Last of all is Alfonso Arau (who later had a riotous ... more

Fast and hysterical from the word go, this hardly remembered 1980 comedy from the writing team of Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis (who later made BACK TO THE FUTURE) is a genuine trip...and a great way to spend a night in front of the TV with anyone your with to have some great laughs. I saw this on Sky Tv a few days ago, and can't believe I've never seen it until now, let alone heard of it, and this film I think definately does deserve a resurfacing for the modern audience, and I will explain exactly why a little later.

The tagline for the film when it was released says it all really: "Estimated Laugh Count: 287 City, 410 Highway. Use these numbers only for comparison! Your actual laughs may vary depending upon how you feel about used car salesman, nude women, specatacular car stunts, and the President of the United States." (In this case, Prez Jimmy Carter, lol). Kurt Russell, in his first adult film role (!), plays used car salesman Rudy Russo who will do ANYTHING to sell a car. He works for Luke Fuchs, a man with a bad heart but a warm, irresistable personality. Luke's brother Roy (both of the Fuchs are played by veteren Jack Warden) owns a much more profitable dealership right across the way. Roy has been determined to get a hold of Luke's property so he can expand...and ends up hiring one of his workers to "test-drive" a car with Luke...ending up in Luke dying of a hard attack.

Sorry, wait a minute, getting a little ahead of myself here...lol. Alright, Russo wants to run for the Senate and needs some quick cash, and Luke (in the beginning) agrees to it, on one condition: that Roy will NEVER take control of his dealership. So when poor Luke gets a heart attack and passes on, what is Russo to do? He lets everyone know that Luke has gone to Florida on vacation, while at the same time Roy is trying to prove that his brother died. Next problem: how does Russo get the money for getting into politics? Answer: let's draw customers in by using television advertising. Of course, this kind of tv advertising involves a woman flashing her breasts. Next day, the dealership is packed.

The laughs are mainly coming out how Russell and Warden battle each other with their customer-getting schemes...Fuchs trys a circus, while Russo hires strippers to dance on top of the cars!!! Things become quite complicated for Russell though, when the Fuchs' long-lost daughter (a charming Deborah Harmon) shows up. With everything that's going on at this point, Russell has no idea what to say....instead, he ends up falling in love. The funniest sequence of the film (for me) is when when Russo and his cronies take over the National TV circuit and show a commercial during the Presidential speech!!! Let me put it this way, Russo's buddy Jeff (Gerrit Graham) dresses up like a cowboy, goes over to Roy Fuch's dealership, and says on TV, "$4900 for this worthless piece of sh*t!! That Mother F*cker is just way too much!!" He then fires a shotgun several times at the car, and that's not the only one he manages to ruin.

If this movie sounds somewhat crude to you, well it is...though I think it is way funnier (and better) than many of todays crude comedies (like DUMB & DUMBER, uggh). The advantage that this film does have in terms of the rudeness is that it is all so good-natured that you probably won't even mind. Russell is charming, funny, and completely irresistable as Russo; if you loved him in OVERBOARD and CAPTAIN RON, then you'll surely love him in this! Warden is terrific, too, as his nemesis, though USED CARS also has an unbelievable supporting cast. David L. Lander and Michael McKean (who played Squiggy and Lenny, respectively, in the TV show LAVERNE & SHIRLEY) are great as two of Russell's partners in TV hijacking; Frank McRae is also great as a mechanic who will sometimes say "Oh, just get in the MF'ing car" just to make you spin the car around the block. Last of all is Alfonso Arau (who later had a riotous supporting role in Zemeckis' ROMANCING THE STONE) as a friend of Russell's who sells him 500 cars near the end of the film....with the drivers (to take back to Russo's lot) all driver's ed students in high school!!! Talk about going into overdrive lol!

What I just mentioned is just another advantage of what USED CARS has over so many other comedies today: a well-executed, twisty plot. You have no idea the whole time where exactly the story is going, which only makes you more surprised as you just laugh and not think about it. And believe me, everything I mentioned in this opinion doesn't even come close to everything that happens in this film. It truly is a wonderful blend of craziness, silliness, and hilarity; it even throws in some car chases and a terrific fight between Graham and Warden that will have you doubled over with laughter.

The film was directed by Zemeckis, and executive produced by John Milus (who later directed CONAN THE BARBARIAN) and Steven Speilberg. That's right Spielberg helped get this film, one of Zemeckis' first, off the ground. Ever since I watched USED CARS, I'm still trying to figure out how this movie become a huge commercial failure; though one clue I discovered was that it came out the same week as AIRPLANE!, which had far more advertising to make it more profitable. In any case, this film is practically unheard of today, and I think it's a real shame. I encourage all of you who want to see a great comedy, this is one to definately look for. And Just Remember: $50 never killed anybody!!!! Thanks for reading, and looking forward to reading all your Comments!! Cheers!!! :)))))))

 

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