Director
Francis Ford Coppola
Leading Actors/Actresses
Jeff Bridges
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Martin Landau, Joan Allen
Genre
Biography, Drama
Language
English
Awards
Nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Martin Landau), Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction (Set Decoration)
Date of Release
1988
Producer
Fred Fuchs, Fred Roos
Setting and Context
1948 America: Chicago and Michigan
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator mimics a newsreel narrator to lend a sense of biography to the film.
Tone and Mood
Optimistic, Flashy, Moralizing
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Preston Tucker. Antagonists are Senator Homer Ferguson and the Detroit Big Three Auto Makers
Major Conflict
Tucker has created excitement over his new dream car. Unfortunately, it isn't built yet. Once he goes into production he is taken on by the Big Three Motor Companies and their politician friends in Washington.
Climax
Tucker wins his court case brought against him by the SEC, but can no longer manufacture his Tucker automobiles.
Foreshadowing
The PIC Magazine spot of Tucker's new car foreshadows that he only has a dream and will have to figure out how to make it a reality.
Understatement
The idea that America undermines its visionaries is key to the drama of the film, but never made the moral of the story.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Coppola made his first ever Disney-like upbeat film with this movie.
Allusions
There are allusions to both innovators like Nikola Tesla and mass-manufactured dreck like the Levitt houses.
Paradox
Tucker has sold the American people on his new car. Paradoxically, he doesn't have an actual car to sell to them.
Parallelism
The beginning of the film with Tucker being a man with only a dream parallels the final scene. Though he has his cars and his freedom, he can't produce them any longer. He is only left with his dream.
