Tucker: The Man and His Dream

Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) starring Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest, Mako, Dean Stockwell. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Preston Tucker (Bridges) wants to build the "car of the future" in the 1940s, only to be crushed by the Big Three and their political cronies. Tucker is an historical figure who really did build cars in the 1940s, and many of the innovations he envisioned for the Tucker automobile have become standard or optional features of cars today. In fact, he built a car that was "too good": The Big Three saw that it would cost them billions of dollars to keep up, and they exerted all of their political muscle to stop Tucker Motors from ever becoming a viable company. At least, that's the version of the story presented by this movie.  It's a rousing story and very entertaining to watch, thanks to strong writing, direction and acting. (Closed captions are provided for the hard of hearing, as well as English subtitles.) Grade: B+