Wondrously Sentimental

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2007)

CARS may be lost on some generations intervening children and those who lived in the 1950's and 60's, but for those fortunate enough to have seen and lived in America before the rise of the superhighway and the sad demise of small towns, this film is wondrously sentimental and potentially tear-jerking. For me, the highlight of CARS is Sally's revelation of her affinity for Radiator Springs, as both she and Lightning McQueen gaze off into (what presumably is) the Grand Canyon (accompanied by Randy Newman's song "Our Town," as performed by James Taylor). CARS is the perfect film for grandparents and grandchildren to see together, since it's a fitting vehicle for cross-generational dialog and an examination of what's important in substantive human relationships. The anthropomorphizing of cars is useful here, because sometimes it's unrealistic to expect humans themselves to be capable of speaking with such clarity on the nature of their own condition. On a more immediate level, CARS is a visual and auditory feast.