Used Cars (1980)

From the era that gave us such memorable and hilarious raunchy comedies like "Animal House" "Airplane" "Caddy Shack" "Stripes" and "Vacation." "Used Cars" never received as much attention as these others, although it still stands up with any of them. UC is a satire of the retail car business, which is a pretty easy mark to make fun of. There are some hilarious bits...various scams that are pulled by the salesmen, outrageous commercials and a great portrayal by Kurt Russell as Rudy Russo,a completely unethical salesman at New Deal Used Cars. Russell never gets the proper credit as one of the great versatile actors of all time. He can do drama, action, romance and here shows off his terrific comedic talents as Rudy Russo has figured his talents would be best served in politics (his motto is "Trust Me") but first he has to come up with a $50K donation to the party to secure his nomination.

Rudy works for the laid back Roy Fuchs, content to run his small car lot while across the street his brother Luke has a huge mega car lot. Luke is a complete snake who wants nothing more than to swallow up Roy's business and have the biggest dealership in the valley. The Fuchs Brothers are played by one of the best character actors around, Jack Warden. Luke will stop at nothing and what unfolds is some very funny stuff. Gerritt Graham and Frank McRae are a riot as Rudy's cohorts at New Deal, while Joe Flaherty delivers a top notch performance as Luke's completely sleazy attorney. Really one one complaint in the cast...Deborah Harmon as Roy Fuchs daughter, who inherits the agency. Great looking, limited in her comedic acting range. Would have loved seeing someone like Catherine O'Hara in this part. But if you've never seen this, it's worth checking out!

Fmovies: Following "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", Robert Zemeckis directed the equally silly "Used Cars", about the antagonistic high jinx between two used car salesmen (Kurt Russell and Jack Warden). This isn't the sort of movie that you watch to change your life or pick up on double meanings or anything like that; you watch it to have fun. And indeed you will! Whether it's the R-rated commercials, or anything else, the movie's a hoot the whole way through. Like "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Overboard", it shows that Kurt Russell really works best in comedy. Just great.

A mile of cars. Imagine that...

first of all when this movie came out, in 1980, (when first i saw it) was way before cell phones, personal computers, and the saturation of mtv, which all have jaded our youth of today. this was a comedy years ahead of it's time..that said. kurt russell's character assassination of a used car salesman is a direct hit. gerrit graham's performance is extremely brilliant as a superstitious-gambling fanatic, really the whole cast is incredibly funny. but it's the dual performance of jack warden playing twin bothers, with good and evil inclinations, that probably should of won him a golden globe (on that performance alone) he's that good...simply put, this movie is laughs,laughs, split your pants laughs, and more laughs. a must watch comedy. and after you've seen it you'll want to add it to your movie library. but if you somehow don't find this movie funny, then maybe you need to check your sense of humor at the door...

Used Cars fmovies. This classic was largely overlooked back in 1980, due to a botched release and competition from Airplane! Even 35 years later, it still provides huge laughs and is a great vehicle for a then-young Kurt Russell. Truly raunchy, but not gratuitously so, this is definitely a movie for guys (and maybe some women who have a good sense of humor) and takes advantage of the era before political correctness took over(think Blazing Saddles). The supporting cast is terrific (including "Toby" the dog), the faux commercials are priceless, and the wild ending unforgettable, regardless of the silliness of it all.

One last thing: if you get the DVD, definitely watch the movie with the commentary by Kurt Russell, Bob Gale, and Bob Zemenkis. It's by far the best commentary I've seen for any movie and is nearly as funny as the movie itself. The fact that it was made 20 years after the movie was released means they have fun pointing out the films technical flaws and back stories.

This is a romantic comedy, but not one I would watch with my wife!

The tasteless jokes and one-liners roll out almost non-stop.

The movie verifies most everything we believe about used car salesmen, the "My boss will have a heart Attack" sales scene nearly brings me to tears I laugh so hard. Russell is at his best with some of the best character actors around joining in, I especially like the goofy Lenny and Squiggy, they just play two very disturbed individuals. Don't look for any deep meaning here, just crude humor a a very funny movie.



I give it 8/10

This is one funny movie. Kurt Russell shows his comedic side and is hysterical - so are Gerrit Graham and Jack Warden. Robert Zemeckis made a gem very few people saw and this is my favorite movie of his. See it if you want to laugh like hell.