for: used car

Used Cars is a 1980 comedy satire film. It stars Kurt Russell, Jack Warden (in a dual role), Deborah Harmon, and Gerrit Graham.

Kurt Russell portrays a devious car salesman who goes to work for affable but monumentally unsuccessful used car dealer Jack Warden. Warden's principal rival is his more prosperous twin brother, also played by Warden, who schemes to take over the "good" brother's lot.

The supporting cast includes Frank McRae, David L. Lander, Michael McKean, Al Lewis, Dub Taylor, Dick Miller, and Sarah Wills.

The movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and his long-time writing partner Bob Gale with Steven Spielberg and John Milius as executive producers. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams.

Filmed primarily in Mesa, Arizona, the movie was released on July 11, 1980. Although not a box-office success at the time, it has since developed cult film status due to its dark, cynical humor and the Zemeckis style. It is also marketed with the tagline "Like new, great looking and fully loaded with laughs."

The film is rated R for violence, brief nudity, adult language and adult situations and humor.

Synopsis

When Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), owner of the struggling New Deal Used Car lot dies of a heart attack, hot-shot salesman (and aspiring senator) Rudy Russo decides to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless twin brother and used-car rival Roy L. Fuchs (also played by Warden), whose own used car lot is under threat of demolition to facilitate the construction of a proposed new freeway exit. An all-out war breaks out between the competing car lots with Russo resorting to extremely outrageous customer-getting schemes in order to save Luke's lot, complicated even more with the arrival of Luke's daughter Barbara Jane Fuchs.

Plot

Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) is the unscrupulous sales manager of New Deal Used Cars, owned by the kindly Luke Fuchs, whose brother Roy L. Fuchs (Jack Warden) is trying to put him out of business. Roy has been unsuccessful in buying out his brother, and has resorted to setting consumer agencies on him to try and force him out. Unknown to everyone but Roy, a new freeway exit ramp is coming through the area and will take Roy's lot through eminent domain.

Rudy also wishes to get elected to the Arizona state Senate. Having saved about $40,000 to buy the nomination, Luke agrees to loan him the remaining $10,000 he needs to raise. Luke also asks Rudy to promise him that he'll do what he can to keep Roy's hands off his lot.

Luke also suffers from heart arrythmia, which is treated orally by nitroglycerin tablets. With time running short to drive his brother out of business, Roy recruits one of his mechanics, Mickey, to pose as a potential customer and destroy one of Luke's prize cars. Mickey, also a former demolition derby driver, takes a 1957 Chevy Bel Air off the lot and through his reckless driving (with Luke fearfully riding shotgun), manages to totally wreck the car, parking the wreck in front of the lot.