Tucker: The Man and His Dream Francis Ford Coppola

Box office

Tucker: The Man and His Dream was released in the United States on August 12, 1988, earning $3,709,562 in its opening weekend in 720 theaters. The film eventually grossed $19.65 million in US totals[3] and was declared a box office bomb because it did not reimburse its $24 million production budget, despite positive reviews.[6][24]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though it may not be as comprehensive as some would like, Francis Ford Coppola's cheerful biopic of the failed automotive designer features sparkling direction and a strong central performance from Jeff Bridges."[25] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "A" on an A+ to F scale.[27]

Richard Schickel of Time magazine praised the film for its exaggerated kitsch style. He also believed the role of Preston Tucker to be Jeff Bridges' best performance.[28] Janet Maslin from The New York Times agreed, writing that Coppola, known for his dark approach on his previous films, "found the directorial range to actually make a feel-good movie".[29] In addition, Desson Thomson, writing in The Washington Post, called the film a "satisfying commercial breakthrough for Coppola" and praised the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro, as well as the ubiquitous approach for Dean Stockwell's cameo appearance as Howard Hughes.[30] Roger Ebert gave a mixed review. "Preston Tucker lacks an ounce of common sense or any notion of the real odds against him. And since the movie never really deals with that – never really comes to grips with Tucker's character – it begins as a saga but ends in whimsy."[5]

Although Coppola enjoyed his working relationship with Lucas, he commented in a July 1988 The New York Times interview with Robert Lindsey that "I think it's a good movie - it's eccentric, a little wacky, like the Tucker car – but it's not the movie I would have made at the height of my power."[2] Coppola was able to stoically accept the critical and commercial reaction to Tucker: The Man and His Dream. "Every time in my career I tried to make, dare I say it, an art film, it never did well."[31]

Despite helming his "labor of love", Coppola was insistent that Tucker: The Man and His Dream would be his last Hollywood project. He reiterated a long-held dream of his own, embarking on a "period of amateurism and experimentation as a Hollywood dropout".[32] One unexpected effect of the film's release was a renewed interest in the Tucker automobile and a boost in the collector's value of the Tucker 48;[16] in a 2008 auction, a low-mileage example topped the $1 million mark.[33]

Awards and nominations