The devil is in the details

I can get a little hung up on the details when I am watching TV and movies. I have been told time and time again that it is only entertainment and I should just relax. The problem with this idea is it makes for lazy directors and bad story telling.


It is the details that draw you in deeper. They resonate with you, making the story more real, painting that picture in your mind. When the details are wrong it is jarring. You may not even know what is wrong, but you will know that something just isn’t right. It will draw your attention like something caught between your teeth.

How does this topic tie in to cars? I am glad you asked. A particular bug of mine is when they get a character’s car wrong. What you choose to drive says so much about you. We choose our cars with great care. When they are driving a car that doesn’t make sense it is like if the characters on Mad Men started holding their cigarettes like nervous 8 year olds.

I know that it is usually a manufacturer will give the producers a dump truck full of money and access to all the cars they need. It allows them to spend the money they would have spent on cars elsewhere, like on more explosions.

It is easy and cost efficient. It also leads to scenes like the one in Matrix Reloaded where every car on the highway is a GM product. The evil white guys with dreadlocks are driving a Cadillac Escalade. These guys are supposed to be evil and tough and they choose a vehicle which is neither.

The same thing happened in the last couple of James Bond movies. Everything with wheels in both movies is a Ford product. Yes I know this means that Daniel Craig drove the requisite Aston Martin (BTW James Bond should ONLY drive Aston Martins) but he also ended up driving a Volvo. What were they thinking? He is James Bond, not some sparkly vampire.

I am actually kind of sad that I know that the Twilight vampire guy drives a Volvo. Why somebody who is immortal and trying to pass himself off as a teenager drive a Volvo I will never know. Oh wait a minute, yes I do. It is because Ford wants to expand the market for Volvos beyond its three traditional buying groups: old people, engineers and women who are 3 months pregnant.

When this is done right it is beautiful.

Dwight Schrute from the Office would drive an 80’s Trans Am. It is big and loud and not nearly as cool as he thinks it is. All the cars on this show have been chosen well. Somebody was paying attention.

The absolute king of doing this right is Quentin Tarantino. He has made some amazing movies. I wouldn’t want to have a conversation with him. I think it would be like being locked in an elevator with a dozen fanboys loaded up on Red Bull and cotton candy. They say that all the great artists are a little crazy.

I got really excited when watching Kill Bill 1 & 2. That was when I realized that his over analytical attention to detail extends to automobiles. If you have not seen these movies go rent them and read this posting after. It will make a lot more sense that way and you can enjoy the plot without looking at the cars.

Budd’s truck, 1965 Chevrolet C-Series, this was interesting. It has some great lines in the body work. You can see how this was a sharp truck in its day. Now it has a miss matched box, dull paint and a set of dirty mags. With Budd you can also see faded glory. He was a high powered assassin. Now he is a bouncer in a rundown strip club. We see him taking a dressing down from his boss. This is a man that Budd could kill without a second thought but he just stands there and takes it.

There is actually a cool little bonus here. In the background you can see a white Honda Civic. This is the same car that Fabienne drives in Pulp Fiction. Of course Butch borrows this car to retrieve his watch and bad things happen. By being here it asks the question, is this just a wink to the detail orientated in the audience or do these movies take place in the same universe?

Elle Driver’s car, 1980 Trans Am, suited her to a T. We will forget for a moment that the 1980 did not have the 455 Super Duty. By 1980 the car was choked with emissions equipment but it looked cool. Like a lot of the American cars it had all kinds of power but no control. Elle Driver was a deadly assassin but she had a wicked temper.

Sophie Fatale was not one of the major characters but Tarantino does not do anything as a throw away. The character is O-Ren Ishii’s (Lucy Liu) lawyer and friend. She is very stylish and efficient. She is of French and Japanese heritage. This is what makes the choice of car for her so interesting. It is a Nissan 300ZX (Fairlady Z). Nissan has had an ongoing partnership with the French car maker Renault since 1999. It also is very stylish yet not as powerful as most of the other cars featured.

This is really the one that I got excited about. The car appears briefly in the background but it says so much about the character of Bill and just how anal Tarantino is.

De Tomaso was an Italian car maker with a problem. They had a beautiful car without an engine to put in it. It has classic Italian lines. It is low and wide. They approached Ford to buy some engines. They got the Ford 302 and a distribution deal. The super weird bit, Ford sells this Italian bodied, American powered super car at Lincoln Mercury dealerships. This was where you would go to get Crown Victorias or Continental Mark IV s. It was the land of middle aged accountant. There were only 400 of these De Tomaso Mangustas built. They estimate that there are only 200 left.

The car is beautifully crafted, elegant and refined looking, but with a big screaming American engine. To me this embodies Bill himself. He is a controlled and calculated but with brutal power just below the surface. Perfect!

Taking care of the details will not save a bad movie but it will make a good movie even better. Thank you to all the people who take care of the little things.