Force Fed Films: Used Cars (1980)

This week Puneet gave me a Kurt Russell movie called Used Cars to watch. I'm starting to wonder if he knows every single car movie that was ever made? I really had no idea what to expect from this movie, but I can tell you I didn't have high hopes. In fact, I wasn't really looking forward to it at all. I'm not sure why, but I just had a feeling I wasn't going to like it. However, the whole point of these "force fed films" is that I didn't have a choice. You'll find my final verdict after the jump!


The premise is simple, but the story is long and slightly complicated. What we have here is a pair of competing used car lots run by brothers. One is good, the other is evil. Kurt Russell plays Rudy Russo who wants to become a senator, but currently he's stuck working as a used cars salesman on the "nice" brother's lot. The story gets more complicated with about a half dozen subplots such as crooked politicians and an interstate off ramp being built, long lost returning daughters, and a dead body that must be dealt with delicately, and secretively.

Never thought I'd see Kurt Russell look like that!

I found the movie really slow to start off, and the comedy wasn't really working for me either. However, once the movie got past the death scene and dealt with the dead body, it did start to pick up for me. I must say though, I thought that entire death scene was some really black comedy and I felt it really didn't work. The serious way the death was shown just didn't go well with the goofy nature of the comedy going on in the rest of the scene. This wasn't an issue for the rest of the film, from then on it was just standard 80's comedy, so from then on it was much better.

The way the story kept evolving over the course of the film meant I really never knew what was going to happen next. What was cool though, was that all these little subplots or side stories that I thought were just a throw away comedy bit at the beginning all started to come back towards the end. Surprisingly, all these little pieces then linked and tied together for one gigantic ending culminating in the racing of over 200 cars across the wastelands. While the movie started off slow and small, it ended in a big fast paced action filled blast!

Rudy prepares to lead over 200 cars across the desert

I came into this movie with really no expectations. Well, no good ones at any rate. What I ended up coming away with was a pleasant surprise. I really didn't like the start of the movie, and looking back on it, I still don't. But the fact is that Kurt Russell's wacky car salesman personality won me over by the end, especially since he grows, even if only a little bit, so that he's not always just doing what's right for himself. I also liked how all the little elements of the movie tied up nicely by the end. I still wouldn't say to go out of your way to check this out, but if you happen to stumble across it, you could certainly do worse.