Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Arnold Schulman (writer)
David Seidler (writer)

Release Date:

12 August 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

When they tried to buy him, he refused. When they tried to bully him, he resisted. When they tried to break him, he became an American legend. The true story of Preston Tucker.

Plot:

The story of Preston Tucker, the maverick car designer and his ill fated challenge to the auto industry with his revolutionary car concept.

Plot Keywords:

Preston Tucker | Factory | Dream | Genius | U.S. President

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Preston Tucker
Joan Allen	...	Vera
Martin Landau	...	Abe
Frederic Forrest	...	Eddie
Mako	...	Jimmy
Elias Koteas	...	Alex
Christian Slater	...	Junior
Nina Siemaszko	...	Marilyn Lee
Anders Johnson	...	Johnny
Corin Nemec	...	Noble (as Corky Nemec)
Marshall Bell	...	Frank
Jay O. Sanders	...	Kirby
Peter Donat	...	Kerner
Dean Goodman	...	Bennington / Drew Pearson's Voice
John X. Heart	...	Ferguson's Agent

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #29156)

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

Of the 51 Tuckers ever made, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola each own two.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The transport plane that the car is loaded into on the ground is a C-123 Provider, which made its first flight in October, 1949. The particular variant depicted (with jet pods) did not appear until the 1960s. The air-to-air footage shows a different airplane, a DHC-4 Caribou, which first flew in 1958.

Quotes:

Preston Tucker: "Big ships fine," Confucius say. "Rowboats long in tooth, make big noise, go nowhere."

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Slanted Screen (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Music Goes 'Round and 'Round

This is one not to be missed.

Thus is a superb movie. Firstly, the story line is just great. The true story of a man who fights against all the odds to realize his dream. Secondly, it's hard to imagine a better cast. They do an extraordinary job in bringing to life all the wonderful characters involved. Jeff Bridges is perfect as Tucker, and Landau is brilliant as the money man. But what really makes this work, is the way Tucker's undying spirit is brought out. He seems to lose the battle of making cars, but wins the ultimate battle of fulfilling himself and keeping his integrity. {"They're only machines, the idea's the important thing."] Over the years, I have collected many hundreds of movies, but this one has to be in the top ten. By the way, I just loved the music sound track. Very 40's.