Zero to Sixty

Saw this on cable about 100 years ago it seems, picked it up recently for $5 and found it entertaining enough. This was, I think, a vehicle for "The Hudson Brothers," an all-but-forgotten 70's musical group, tho they're hardly in this, and that's a good thing. They make the Bee Gees in "Sgt. Pepper" look intelligent as they try for "3 Stooges" laughs in this light comedy/actioner.

Worth the second look: Sylivia Miles as a hard-as-nails car repo hag, just- divorced McGavin as a befuddled, bumbling "everyman" caught up in a whirlwind of odd characters/events after his ex takes everything he has and Denise Nickerson, aka "Violet" from Willy Wonka as a tough-but-sweet juvenile. Too bad she quit the biz early on, she was fun to watch. Interesting cameos by Joan Collins and Gordon MacCrae(Curly, from Oklahoma...???!!!).

More amusing character study than laugh-out-loud comedy, a little ugly to look at and Nickerson wanting to sleep with McGavin seemed creepy. If you re- member "Corvette Summer" and liked it you'll probably like this...if you can find it...

I first saw this on cable probably 25 years ago. When it came up on Prime I decided to take a trip down Memory Lane. Some films age better than others...this one not so much. Still, if you enjoy the '70 teens and cars genre (Grand Theft Auto, The Van, etc.), you'll probably find something entertaining in this low-budget car theft comedy. It's always a pleasure to watch Darrin McGavin in comedic roles and he lifts the script (which he co-wrote under his birth name) higher than it has a right to be. The rest of the cast succeeds or fails to various degrees.

The good: Dick Martin as a shady divorce lawyer.

Denise Nickerson as Larry, the teen car thief.

The mediocre: Sylvia Miles as the repo company owner.

Lyle Wagonner as a gay bartender.

The bad: Joan Collins as the same tramp Joan Collins always plays.

The horrendous: The Hudson Brothers during their 15 minutes of fame.

One final note: this film probably falls into the "they couldn't make this today" category.

Darrin MacGavin's Michael character is probably in his late 30's-early 40's. Larry is a 16 year old girl. (actress Denise Nickerson is really 31, looking every bit of 16). While pulling up just short of statutory rape (and Larry tries like heck), Michael resists, but nonetheless there is a creepiness hovering over them. It does gets resolved in the end.

I like this movie although I am not sure why. I saw it more than 20 years ago on cable and thanks to OnDemand, I had the chance to see it again. No real plot to keep up with, but lots of crazy car chases and a script loaded with banter between Darren McGavin (who does way to many scenes in his underwear) and the young lady who played Violet in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." I always wondered why McGavin wasn't a bigger star and why he was relegated to B-movie material like this. He manages to save the film with his comic timing. Likewise, the young lady, whose name escapes me, is pretty funny too. As many of the posters have indicated, this is a fairly uncomfortable movie. After all, the teen-age lead wants to bed the significantly older (at least 50!) McGavin!??! Very weird! There's little chance this movie would get released today with such a premise. In any event, "Zero to Sixty" is fast-paced enough to be interesting and entertaining. Watching it will definitely bring back memories of those numerous Saturday afternoon matinées featuring mindless PG B-flicks loaded with profane scripts and plenty of car wrecks. Enjoy.

Perhaps best known as Carl Kolchak and the Old Man character from A Christmas Story, Darren McGavin, who also wrote the screenplay, (under his real name, W. Lyle Richardson) stars as Michael Nolan, a middle-aged loser, whose wife divorces him and leaves him for broke, and screwed over by his slimy attorney (Dick Martin). He eventually befriends Larry (Denice Nickerson), a street-smart teenager, who has a job repossessing cars. Larry is determined to take back a silver Pontiac Trans Am belonging to sexpot socialite Gloria Martine (Joan Collins), who Michael is immediately turned on by. Of course, there's plenty of car chases and crashes and supporting parts from Sylvia Miles as the wacky agency owner, Dick Martin as a slimy divorce attorney and The Hudson Brothers as a trio of morons, who also work at the agency as repo men.

I just picked up this movie on the internet and after watching had mixed emotions. There really is NO plot line here. Darren McGavin has lost everything and seems like a wishy washy kind of turd in the punchbowl. Someone tries to Repo his ex-wife's car and that's how gets involved with the inept ring of repo guys, headed up by the tough as nails Sylvia Miles. McGavin's character Mike is teamed up with a 16 year old juvy who takes him in and falls in love with him. He doesn't feel the same(does the word statutory rape ring a bell???) but she wants to bang him anyway. Mike is too interested in banging some of the women who's cars are wanted by the bank and he ends up doing them too. There's not much to see in this film. Gratuitous car chases, goofy performances by the Hudson Brothers who were like the Three Stooges or trying to be like them, horrible fight scenes(though McGavin did know Karate but that wasn't evident here) and one bad love making scene with McGavin and Joan Collins(yes, Joan Collins). But it's fun to watch McGavin, he's a delight no matter what he does. Why did he do this schlock(filmed in Toronto I might add)? It was the pet project of his second wife, the late Kathie Browne. Oh, let me add 2 gratuitous scenes of McGavin's untanned butt. The highlight of the movie(at least to me).