Pimp my Pixar!

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2006)

CARS (2006) **1/2 (VOICES OF: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry The Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, Guido Quaroni, Jenifer Lewis, Paul Dooley, Michael Wallis, George Carlin, Katherine Helmond, John Ratzenberger, Joe Ranft, Michael Keaton, Richard Petty, Jeremy Piven, Bob Costas, Richard Kind, Edie McClurg, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jay Leno, Mario Andretti). Lackluster Pixar animated fare about the world of cars with Wilson as a cocky racing car holed up in a dust-choked burg off of Rte. 66 forced to do community service after breaking the law upheld by a crusty judge (Newman having fun) and learning some life lessons along the way. Unless you're a car enthusiast (which I am so not; half the problem) then you won't mind the chatty and quite frankly unabsorbing fable (the other half of the problem) in spite of the eye-candy of the CGI cranked out expertly by filmmaker John Lesseter a reported labor of love for the self-professed auto buff; me - not so much but I did get a kick out of Shalhoub and particularly scene-stealer Quaroni as Italian accented garage owning vehicles and a bully-jerk Keaton as Wilson's chief competition.