At the Movies: Whiz for kids, nostalgia for adults in rollicking 'Cars'

Were it not for the animated aspect of Cars, it could have been a pretty juicy human drama.

City slicker finds himself stranded in a dusty hick town, runs afoul of local law enforcement, is harassed by four roadhog punks, catches the eye of the only honey around, but eventually wins the townsfolk's hearts and minds.

In the hands of the Pixar wizards, however, Cars represents the creation of a whole new animated subculture that, this time around, is less geared toward the kid than the kid in the adult.

Sure, there are plenty of thrills made even more sensational by the poetic license that animation offers, but once the characters have been established in true storytelling fashion, the movie locks into an irresistible momentum.

To personify the various vehicles, the Pixar people rely on windshields for eyes, lips in the vicinity of bumpers, and wheels and suspension for "body language."

NASCAR-type hot rookie Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) finds himself in the ghost town of Railroad Springs after being unwittingly dumped from his semi en route to California and a showdown race between himself, a soon-to-retire veteran, and a cocky win-at-all-costs competitor.

Sporty McQueen is a real novelty, because a nearby highway has long since bypassed the town, leaving its residents in commercial limbo.

Therein lies one of the movie's more wry observations.

"They make great time, but they don't have a great time," one of the town cars remarks about highway drivers tearing along from a to b at maximum speed.

After a madcap arrival sequence in which he tears up the town's tarmac, Wilson's plans of meeting the race deadline are thwarted when he's sentenced to repair the road.

This enables him to meet the various vehicular residents, including Larry the Cable Guy's bubba-like tow truck, Helen Hunt's sensuous blue Porsche, Paul Newman's world-weary Hudson Hornet and "ensemble" contributors, such as a herd of dumb tractors who/which, incidentally, are responsible for one of the movie's better fantasy scenes.

Highlights such as that one are carefully timed for maximum effect by director John Lasseter, said to have mirrored in the film his own nostalgia for the era of country roads, drive-in movies and classic cars.

That would indeed be evident from some of his country scenes, subtlely lit and sometimes almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Such is the traditional attention to detail that Pixar pioneered, and clearly strives to match each time around.

The flick in a nutshell: Lots of whiz and fizz, some down-home philosophy and, as usual, technical perfection.

Cars, rated G presumably for nothing more abominable than Larry the Cable Guy's rickety truck displaying a grease booger, and maybe a couple of gas gags, is scheduled to play through this week at Marco Movies.