Cars

Cast: Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Michael Keaton, Richard Petty, John Ratzenberg 

Talking automobiles. No people. That's the latest creative innovation by leading animation studio Pixar with their latest output "Cars." The characters talk through their front fender, their eyes are in the windshields, and a few of them have mustaches as a hood ornament. Sure, Pixar’s new movie has all the three-dimensional computer animation gleam of other hits like "Finding Nemo," "A Bug's Life" and the "Toy Story" movies, but their writing imagination this time hits the skids.

It took six writers to pack in all the car puns in what is essentially an overlong feature. A joke-cracking car is named Jay Limo, ha ha ha. Get the pun? And although it starts fast the movie takes a sluggish detour in the mid-section. As for stock car racer Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), he has many lessons and ego-adjustments to go through before he can get back on the racing track.

Lone wolf Lightning is a rookie sensation, but he's a little full of himself. He wins races, but he's got no coaching support because he doesn't think he needs it. While traveling across the U.S. highways, he gets separated from his transport truck and runs into law trouble in Radiator Springs, a back-roads ghost town found off of Route 66. After mowing down several buildings and tearing up the roads, he is sentenced by Doc Hudson (a gravel-voiced Paul Newman), a classically restored Hudson Hornet model, to perform required community repairs.

Shiny red Lightning isn't used to bowing down to the needs of others. Nor is he used to associating with beat-up old cars with rusty growls in their engines. Though he is instantly attracted to a dark-blue female Porsche named Sally (voiced with lady-like charisma by Bonnie Hunt), Lightning’s heart is mostly made of cold metal. Yet a pit-stop in this dusty town brings forth newfound values to his character. He makes new friends and learns the value of hard work, which would consist of fastidiously repaving the town’s roads so they look nice and are made to everyone’s satisfaction.

But this long middle act – taking place in the arid Arizona landscapes – has an inevitable arid and dry quality to it even though it's drawn with top of the line animation. It lacks the environmental splendor of other Pixar worlds and universes. And the story lags. Fidgety moviegoers will impatiently await Lightning get back onto the speed race circuit at the end of the movie. Why does it take that long? To construct too-clever gags like "tractor tripping," the automobile equivalent to cow-tipping, that takes too long to set up to deliver the punchline. Other gags in the movie have the similar problem.

Those looking for a warm and fuzzy story, however, will appreciate Lightning's blooming relationship with the Newman character and the Hunt character. Not unlike any other movie that promotes a bad character becoming good, personalities like Lightning always need a good mentor and a girlfriend on the side, but only after trust and respect is formed. Trophies, fame and sponsorships come later.

The movie carries you along on slight amusement, and youngsters might even be moved into wide-eyed amusement, but this effort will not likely attain the longevity of classic status with other Pixar titles. Frankly, the film's spotty pacing brought out the crank in me until it picked up again at the end.