Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
81%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
8 wins & 9 nominations total
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
Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a movie that will make you feel all the emotions. It’s like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, you get hope and heartbreak. The film tells the story of Preston Tucker, a man who dared to dream big and build a car that would change the world. And while the movie may have its flaws, it’s hard not to get swept up in the grandeur of it all. Plus, Jeff Bridges gives a performance that will make you want to stand up and cheer. So buckle up and get ready for a wild ride with Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Production Company(ies)
Anonymous Britdoc Foundation Final Cut for Real
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Sonoma, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1988
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 51m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 12, 1988 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 15, 2012
Genre(s)
Biography
Keyword(s)
starring Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest, Mako, Dean Stockwell, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Arnold Schulman and David Seidler, biography, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Derek Malcolm, Alexander Walker, Sean French, Richard Brody, Ian Freer, PG rating, inventor, automotive designer, futuristic car, Detroit’s auto manufacturers, stock fraud, court, safety, low prices, real-life person, historical accuracy, underdog story, 1940s, old music, cinematography, 1948 Tucker Sedan
Worldwide gross: $19,652,638
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $50,319,426
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,322
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,487,397
US/Canada gross: $19,652,638
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $50,319,426
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,066
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,709,562
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $9,498,116
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 972
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $23,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $58,890,150
Production budget ranking: 696
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $31,712,346
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$40,283,070
ROI to date (est.): -44%
ROI ranking: 1,651
Joan Allen – Vera Tucker(Fuqua)
Martin Landau – Abe Karatz, Voice of Walter Winchell on radio
Frederic Forrest – Eddie Dean
Mako – Jimmy Sakuyama
Dean Stockwell – Howard Hughes
Director(s)
Francis Ford Coppola
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Fred Roos, Fred Fuchs
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
8 wins & 9 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (8)
Tucker works well enough on a purely emotional level to become a resonant film. And its naivety is in certain ways its strength.
August 16, 2021
Derek Malcolm
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Tucker’s style, like the film commemorating him, is that of a story-board artist turning life into instant wish-fulfilment. All posture, no depth: all good looks nothing behind them.
August 16, 2021
Alexander Walker
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
The result is psychologically fascinating but deeply disheartening as the latest chapter of Coppola’s cinematic career.
January 16, 2020
Sean French
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Coppola tells this story with grand exuberance without masking the personal and historical tragedies that it involves.
August 9, 2019
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
A revealing and heartfelt biopic.
May 6, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The true story of a great American visionary who was thwarted, if not destroyed, by the established order, Tucker represents the sunniest imaginable telling of an at least partly tragic episode in recent history.
December 12, 2007
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
The automobile as the grand American illusion… perfect production design from the first car down to the last little hat. [Full review in Spanish]
June 15, 2022
Rene Jordan
El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
Coppola adds in a fair number of unique beats to ensure that TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM isn’t just a hollow echo of filmmaking of the past.
April 26, 2021
Douglas Laman
The Spool
‘Tucker: The Man and His Dream’ is a very elegant Coppola biopic on the legacy of automotive pioneer Preston Tucker. [Full review in Spanish]
August 8, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
Tucker, the character, embellishes and enchants with his mile a minute mouth (hilarious blowing past malapropisms like opening “Aunt Dora’s box”) while Tucker, the film, does the same in its rose-colored view of an imaginary heyday of U.S. manufacturing.
November 5, 2018
David Bax
Battleship Pretension
Tucker: The Man and His Dream is an all-American story. It’s just not the one that everyone wants to hear.
October 29, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
Sean Mulvihill
FanboyNation.com
Smoke-filled, rousing dramedy about corruption.
December 18, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Heather Boerner
Common Sense Media…
Plot
Based on a true story. Shortly after World War II, Preston Tucker is a grandiose schemer with a new dream, to produce the best cars ever made. With the assistance of Abe Karatz and some impressive salesmanship on his own part, he obtains funding and begins to build his factory. The whole movie also has many parallels with director Coppola’s own efforts to build a new movie studio of his own.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Dean Stockwell makes a bizarre appearance as Howard Hughes in Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
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