Heavy Traffic (1973)

Adult Animated Movie #3

Synopsis: It’s basically 77 minutes of extremely unlikable characters, racist stereotypes, domestic violence, and sub-par animation – and those are its good points! 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “An animated fantasy of hard-edged city life.” 

What Did I Learn?: Apparently, 1970s-era New York City pinball arcade owners were quite blasé about customers destroying their machines. 

You Might Like This Movie If: you want a few pointers on how to smooth-talk the ladies.

 

Really?: Heavy Traffic is a Ralph Bakshi animated fantasy, so it’s hard to judge it in terms of its overall credibility. That said, it’s strange that Bakshi would make Michael (the protagonist) so unsympathetic; he pushes a naked teenage girl off a rooftop and never lifts a finger to help her afterwards, and he later beats a man senseless with a lead pipe in order to steal his wallet. Why in the world should we give a shit about his welfare?

Rating: Heavy Traffic is a dated, vulgar, and rather unfunny “comedy” (see: “Synopsis”). I'll give it a few stars for an interesting soundtrack and some cool visuals of New York City, but I cannot recommend this movie. 3.5/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070165/?ref_=nv_sr_1