Tales of the Rat Fink

The creator of Rat Fink was one of my graphic heroes when I was younger, I tried to emulate his style, and now, because of the movie, he still is. Rat Fink rules, and so does the director of this Documentary, Ron Mann, who has given us rockin'docs about comic books, the twist and poetry in motion. Ron is one of the rare filmmakers who manage to preserve and capture important sections of American Popular Culture. He does so with wit, incredible attention to detail, music tracks, graphic presentation and engaging editing. He also seems to capture the zeitgeist in a way that no one else does in documentaryland. Who would've guessed that a film about Rat Fink could be an artful metaphor for many of the issues that define America today? I say 10 outta 10.

Lovers of hot rods and Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth are definitely the audience for this film, so the fact that I wasn't particularly enamored by the film is mostly because I am not a fan. Keep this in mind when reading my review--it's not for the hard-core fans but for someone who just likes to watch documentaries.

From my outsider point of view, this was a pretty weird documentary because of it's style. First, because Roth was dead by the time they made this film, John Goodman narrated the film as if he were Roth. And, other celebrities (such as the Smothers Brothers and Jay Leno) also lent their voices--so it's pretty unusual from the outset. Second, many of Roth's designs (especially his famous 60s "Rat Fink") were animated and many old clips were pieced together to make up the film--so you really didn't get much new content. Finally, the film tried very hard to be funny--with talking cars (like you'd see in "My Mother the Car") and rocking campers with personalities that DIDN'T make me laugh. Again, none of these are necessarily "bad", but a bit unusual and hard for non-fans. However, I have to give the film its due--it certainly was innovative and the sound was exceptional--with a great surround-sound quality.

Still, given my predisposition, the film didn't win me over because I just didn't get hooked by all the excitement. It wasn't me.

As a member of Rat Finks of America, I have a very high standard for all that is Fink, and Ron Mann's "Tales of a Rat Fink" did not disappoint. This jacked-up semi-animated documentary of the hotrod culture's greatest patriarch, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth is a film that entertains and teaches us how and why we are obsessed with customizing cars. Roth was an enigmatic soul, a freethinker and rule breaker, and Mann has captured his essence with original film making and stylized story telling. Though he was an iconoclast, Roth wanted his work to appeal to all audiences--kids and adults, and this film follows in that image. There is so much detail and substance here, yet the film speeds by and changes lanes as necessary without refueling. It was a joy to watch and will serve generations to come. Long live Rat Fink!!

'm a shameful Detroiter. I grew up on the outskirts of the Motor City sheltered from the automotive world by my mechanic stepfather. He was determined to keep me out of the garage and following in his greasy footsteps. Through luck (and hard work), I managed to find employment at a string of jobs that had little-to-nothing to do with the auto industry (a feat in Motown). And, even after several years of attending the Woodward Cruise, I couldn't tell a kit car from a custom. I'm an automotive idiot.

I confess to these sins in order to give my complete "outsider perspective" when it came to seeing this Canadian documentary on artistic motorhead Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. I might have more knowledge of Rene Descartes than the Rat Fink.

I can say without hesitation after seeing Ron Mann's film that I now possess a good understanding not only of Roth and his accomplishments but also his impact on popular culture. Little did I know that my beloved "wacky packages" stemmed from such auspicious beginnings. Roth managed to warp the minds of millions via his custom cars, t-shirts, artwork, and glue used to piece together his series of model cars.

Narrated by John Goodman as Roth (who passed during production) and sporting some nifty animation/photo manipulation, there are some weak moments in the film (the anthropomorphic talking cars) but overall TALES OF THE RAT FINK does a terrific job of avoiding staid talking head interviews while providing a comprehensive, organized portrait of a wonderfully multifaceted media pioneer.

Well, some of the silliness of the animations was a bit over the top but I figure they didn't have enough real footage to fill out an entire movie.

It was imaginative, and to its credit, it was a primer on the tremendous impact of this forgotten artist.

Forgotten? Well, I forgot about him. Wow, my brother was really into hot rods and he had all the magazines and the CARtoon books and such and I read all of the latter and marveled at Big Daddy's creativity, even in my early teens. Everything came rushing back when I saw this movie.

Let's face it, the guy was far out, he was into his thing, and he really did provide an inspiration for the art/media/design/culture that was to come in just a few years.

Wow.