Tucker - The Man and His Dream

Starring:Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest, Mako, Elias Koteas, Christian Slater, Nina Siemaszko, Corin Nemec, Anders Johnson, Marshall Bell, Jay O. Sanders, Peter Donat, Dean Goodman, John X. Heart, Don Novello, Patti Austin, Sandy Bull, Joe Miksak, Scott Beach
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

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Director Francis Ford Coppola and executive producer George Lucas shared a strong desire to film the story of Preston Tucker, the man who revolutionized car design in the late 1940s, only to have his innovation squelched by the "big three" automakers in a legal battle between Tucker and powerful political lobbies. Coppola surely related to and sympathized with Tucker as a visionary underdog, and so this stylish, energetic film envisions "the man and his dream" in idealistic terms--an unabashed optimist (played by Jeff Bridges) who realizes his vision through blind faith and tenacity. Martin Landau gives a superb, heartbreaking performance as an associate who desperately wants to share Tucker's enthusiasm, but knows that corporate wolves are knocking at the door and will soon burst in with fangs bared. Joan Allen is equally good as Tucker's supportive wife, and the film's combination of dazzling costumes, production design, and the fabulous Tucker itself (of which only 50 models were made) creates an infectious atmosphere of postwar optimism. In the end, however, this fascinating film is much like Coppola himself: possessed of genius, blinded by ambition, and prone to create works of erratic brilliance. Don't take that as criticism, however; this is a sharp, underrated film about a dreamer whose dream was a worthy one, even if it only briefly came true. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Tucker - The Man and His Dream.......2007-05-07

This film is a great and very entertaining piece of American history about a man that never really got the kind of recognition that I feel he deserved. Done up in "epic" movie making form, it is a worthy item to have in you collection if you like and enjoy cars, or the history there of or both at the same time!
Well cast and excellently acted. A most enjoyable film indeed!

Good but Flawed Movie.......2007-04-05

Not many Americans knew much about Preston Tucker or his car before this movie came out. Since 1988 enough people became aware of both to send the value of the remaining Tucker 48's skyrocketing, assuring I'll never now own one!

This is an enjoyable movie for a car guy with numerous biographical details, good sets, costumes, and acting by Jeff Bridges that threatens to go just over the top. It's too bad that Coppola chose to beat the sterotypical "small guy with a big heart gets ground down by the big guy" horse. But good drama needs a protagonist and an antagonist, and that conspiratorical angle to be expected from Hollywood, USA. I learned a long time ago not to go to the movie theatre for a history lesson.

Fact is that Tucker tried too quickly to bring an underdeveloped product to market with an undercapitalized company. In only a few short years, much bigger companies with established product lines (Nash, Packard, Hudson, Kaiser, Studebaker, etc.) would all suffer the same fate his did.

Still, there were rumors this DVD was going out of print. Does that mean that a 20th anniversary edition is in the works?

Tucker the Man.......2007-01-28

Tucker The Man and His Dreams is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It reflex on the times and how hard it was for a person to get a head. Tucker was a man of his time and years ahead of the times.

I Highly recommend this Movie.......

The Dream Betrayed.......2006-12-16

The story of Preston Tucker is directed by Francis Ford Coppola, produced by Gerge Lucas and features an outstanding performance by Jeff Bridges as the inventor who dreamed too large in this wonderful American Dream.

After World War II, the automobile industry - in the guise of The Big Three - were poised to convert its manufacturing plants back to the soon-to-be burgeoning domestic market. Enter into the picture Preston Tucker, a successful inventor who had ideas to create an affordable, reliable and safe family automobile (yes, a revolutionary concept, even in the 1940s).

His "Tucker 48" auto included a rear-mounted, fuel-injected engine, disk brakes, seat belts and a padded dash, a front windshield that popped out during a severe crash, push-button controls and a third front headlight that turned while the driver was steering.

Seen as a threat to the marketing plans of the auto industry, Tucker's dream is destroyed in the hallowed halls of the federal government that winds it way through the senate chambers and stops at the desk of the president. Only 51 cars were produced.

Initially shot like the slick corporate promotional films of the 1950s to creatively present an overview of this buried history, Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a reminder how the power of influence & greed manipulates the marionette of business & government.

Beep, beep, vroom, vrooooom..................2006-11-28

I like this flick. It's corny and historically questionable; but I like it just the same. I like Jeff Bridges. He's corny. I guess I like corny things. I like his father, Lloyd Bridges(who isn't corny in this movie) as the nasty Senator who has a big hand in destroying Tucker's dream. Joan Allen is good as is that kid who sounds like Jack Nicholson, Christian Slater. The cars are nice looking too and slick like the film. The film utilized real, honest to goodness Tucker automobiles. The flick has a zippy, jazzy score by Joe Jackson, and that song, "Hold That Tiger," which is corny but fun. Don't get me wrong; it's a well made film by Francis Ford Coppola whose best creative days, unfortunately, came way too early in his career. Hey, life can really suck sometimes, especially when the evil forces of big business and Washington, D.C. are against you and your upstart, innovative, fledgling automobile company; and you just happen to be a loud mouthed, arrogant, self-proclaimed genius whose aim is to single handedly revolutionize the automobile business. If nothing else the film tells the story of an ambitious, enthusiastic guy who bit off more than he could chew by challenging some capitalist giants who gave him a capitalist bloody nose. P.S. The best scene is that creepy one in the airplane hangar with that creepy music and that creepy portrayal of Howard Hughes by some actor whose name I can't recall. Amen.

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