I try not to think too much about moviemaking when I watch a movie, because I’ll very quickly take myself out of the movie once my mind starts wandering to VFX (“I bet that’s a sky replacement”) or the set decoration (“Was that Van Halen poster for sale in 1978?”) or the props (“She’s running with a hammer in her hand, so it’s probably rubber”) and so on. I’m particularly susceptible (as I’m sure you are) to cars in movies.
If it’s a period piece and the car did not actually go on sale until significantly later than the movie’s timeline, that’s a red alert. Or, if the car is way too nice/expensive for the character in question – see Mare of Easttown – then I’m out of the movie. See also: weird details, such as otherwise well-cast 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup in the miniseries Candy, which is appropriately fresh-looking (the events are set in 1980), but it’s lowered to near hella-flush status and wearing what appears to be a set of Ronal Turbo wheels. All I could think about when I saw it was the wheels and stance were either a big car-casting miss, or the milquetoast character who drives the thing had some secret car-guy life that was to be revealed in a later episode. “Chekhov’s Ronal Turbos,” if you will.
When done well, the car-casting choices just feel right. Consider the wonderful choices made for Widow’s Bay, which Jason extols here, and you can listen to Torch talk car-casting with the actual car-casters here. Most recently for me, I hit the recliners at my local Cinemark to take in The End of Oak Street, which I highly recommend as a thrilling film full of surprises and fun, and a far better “Spielberg movie” than actual Steven Spielberg’s last outing (Disclosure Day), which was firmly meh. Where was I? Right, the car casting. Along with the 1973 Dodge Coronet in the topshot, the just-scraping-by Platt family owns a much newer Dodge Omni (or maybe it’s a Plymouth Horizon, same diff) which seems like exactly the sort of car a family might purchase in circa 1982 while still keeping a nearly ten-year-old heap going for frugality’s sake.
How about you – seen any cars on the small or silver screen that made you think “that’s just the right car for that character”? Or maybe the opposite? See you in the comments.
Top graphic image: Bad Robot/Warner Bros.
all the vince gilligan shows have interesting but usually overlooked cars.
I started racking my brain trying to think of that TV series in which the kid had a pristine ’70s Bronco, but of course that is your link to Mare! I kept waiting for the story to explain the car, like it was inherited from a favorite uncle and the kid just couldn’t bear to sell it. It took me quite a long time to realize they just screwed up. A ratty 1990s full size, or Bronco II, would have been an easy substitute.
I figured that the description was something like “old truck” and whoever was in charge of it looked through the available cars and picked it because it was suitably old.
Guy Pearce’s Jaaaag was perfectly cast, however.
I know the Autopian had an article about Pluribus last year, but I just started watching the show this month. 78 Corolla, Chevy pickup with a bitchin’ hood mural, an MG, and Carol chooses both a state police cruiser AND a Rolls Royce as her personal vehicles. There’s also some kind of South American Toyota box truck that tries to help Manusos!
The GNX (or GN?) in Lanterns.
I always had an issue with Will Sharp’s perfectly restored classic Bronco worth six figures while he’s drowning in medical debt and takes on a heist to pay his bills. Maybe it was a loaner from his movie brother and the dialogue was cut because who else is going to clue in on that. I’m not usually that pedantic but that one stuck out to me.