Cars is Pixar's most improbable success to date, a film that could easily have misfired, but somehow does not.

Smooth, but bland and forgettable.

Judged against previous form, this is not Pixar firing on all cylinders, lacking the sophisticated comedy we've come to expect. Judged against fare from other studios, however, it's a triumph.

Cars deserves far more credit than it gets. Beneath the talking vehicles and familiar sports-movie structure is a surprisingly insightful film about how the American heartland has been failed by the very system that once allowed it to prosper.