Used Cars

There are so many different characters and story lines in the movie that it's hard to keep everything straight, and harder still to care. Read full review

For a terrible movie, Used Cars certainly has its moments. Anyone braving the sleezy ad campaign will be treated to some wonderfully funny gibes at a larger-than-life target: the used-car-industry. The question is, do a few moments of satire justify an hour and a half of naked ladies, car stunts and chase scenes? That's what most of this movie consists of. [11 July 1980, p.27]

Used Cars, a mean, spirited farce about cutthroat rivalry between ruthless used-car salesmen somewhere in the Southwest, recalls the worst tendencies of "Ace in the Hole" crossed with the worst tendencies of "One, Two, Three." It's assiduously nasty and hard-driving too, a double-duty excess. Director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis has undeniable energy and flair, but it's being misspent on pretexts and situations that seem inexcusably gratuitous and snide. Read full review

Scripters have provided very little context or societal texture for their unmodulated tale, which disagreeably seeks to find humor in characters’ humiliation, embarrassment and even death. Nonetheless Robert Zemeckis directs with undeniable vigor, if insufficient control and discipline. Read full review