Cars

I have been forced to watch this movie more than 20 times since my husband and I decided, that fateful day, to purchase the DVD for the kids for Christmas. I had taken one of them to see it with a group at the theatre, and found it to be somewhat cute, but not all that great. But my husband longed to see it, so we bought it, and we watched it. Over, and over, and over, and... well, you get it. So what is my opinion about the movie CARS? Well, it definitely has changed along the way. My initial thoughts in the theatre were that this movie was boring, I just couldn't get into it. The visual effects were amazing, these cars look quite real in some shots, but I left the theatre unimpressed. Until a few months later, when we purchased the DVD. Cars was an instant hit in our house, getting a play at least once a day for the first few days, and then perhaps once per week. My son, a natural fan of automobiles, or anything mobile for that matter, of course he adores the movie. He still tells all about the movie while he's watching it, "Mom, look, the queen is going to go right around this curve, but he zooms and then this car goes..." Yes, my son calls Lightning McQueen, the animated auto star of this movie, "the queen". My daughter also enjoys this movie, though not as much as my son. But the real clencher? I enjoy the movie. After being forced to watch it so many times, I find strangely drawn to it. The characters are very well conceived, even the rudest and most dislikable of them is not so bad. You really feel sorry for him. And the cute ones are easy to fall for. This movie has several morals, easy enough for any five year old to pick up. Friendship is a main, along with responsibility, sensitivity and sportsmanship. In the end, this clever movie gets a very high rating on my list, because gone is the "in your face" junk that so many children's movies cling to, gone is the rude, crude attitudes and slightly adult content. Especially since these days it is hard to find a suitable movie or cartoon for a boy that is not graphic or just distasteful. This movie is appropriate for the whole family, and is certainly well liked by ours. And, of course, there is the day we sat in the car listening to the radio when "life is a highway, I wannna drive it all night long..." comes on, and my five year old gets hysterical. "MOM!!! It's LIGHTNING THE QUEENS SONG!!!"