Cars (2005)

Re-watching Pixar's "Cars" recently, I had the same reaction upon seeing it in theaters in 2006. I liked it the first time I saw it in 1990, when it was called "Doc Hollywood" and featured a game Michael J. Fox and a nude Julie Warner. The plot also steals from the Tom Cruise drama "Days of Thunder." Here, a self-worshipping race car (Owen Wilson's voice) is lost in rural America, gets arrested and finds his soul among the little small-town people ... err, cars and trucks (including the voice of Paul Newman) through community service. It's a great looking film, for sure; Pixar always is at the top of the computer animation game. And Larry the Cable Guy provides the best laughs as a tow truck. But, man, this story is old and tired. This is the first Pixar film to feel like a retread, and its life lessons are heavy handed and a lie (plenty of big-city folk mange to live happily). Still, those tractor tipping scenes kill every time. C+