'Rat Fink' lacks mass appeal, but it doesn't matter

Calling all self-proclaimed Finksters and certified members of the Rat Fink Club: Ron Mann's ``Tales of the Rat Fink" is definitely your movie; come revel in every ridiculously caricatured inch of it.

As for more casual observers of the ``Kustom Kulture" movement -- including those who (like me) owned their fair share of Rat Fink rings, key chains, trading cards, and monster-in-a-hot rod model kits: You may find that this goofy, worshipful documentary packs considerably less vroom than your own childhood memories. And still, you'll probably smile at much of the nostalgia on parade.

But to those filmgoers who wouldn't know Rat Fink from Barton Fink, this reviewer's advice is: Pass. The latest counterculture tribute by Mann, director of 1988's ``Comic Book Confidential" and 1999's ``Grass," is as proudly silly as it is informative, and it can't help that a critical amount of brand coolness gets lost in the translation.

``Tales of the Rat Fink" is the story of Ed ``Big Daddy" Roth, a revered custom-car artist and innovator whose wacky drawings of the anti-Mickey Mouse and other subversively uncuddly creatures became a merchandising phenomenon in the 1960s and '70s, when kids were huge fans of anything that could repulse their parents. Roth is positioned as the narrator of this movie written by regular Mann collaborator Solomon Vesta, but because the hot-rodding icon died in 2001 at the age of 69, he's mostly presented as a photographic cutout voiced by John Goodman.

And sometimes that cutout even comes dressed up like Tinkerbell, ready to wave a magic wand over any random scene.

If that sounds dumb, it's only because you either don't remember Roth's trademark sarcastic top-hat-and-monocle getup or because you haven't yet been introduced to this film's much dumber idea: talking vintage vehicles (with blinking headlights!) voiced by the likes of Ann-Margret, Jay Leno, and the Smothers Brothers.

Roth was cutting edge. This is ``Knight Rider" territory.

That said, Mann clearly loves his subject, and he works with animator Michael Roberts and photo director Arthur Cooper to establish a style that overall pays due homage to the creativity and quirky spirit of California's most celebrated car customizers. On film, Roth gets credited with everything from sculpting one of the earliest fiberglass hot rods (appropriately named The Outlaw) to inventing the message T-shirt. It's also amply noted that, for better and for worse, Roth's works have become the stuff of parades, museum exhibits, and collectors' auctions.

Add ``Tales of the Rat Fink" to the long list of Roth testimonials that includes surf-rock album covers and a famous ``Kandy Kolored" essay by Tom Wolfe, who contributes vocals and a cameo to this documentary. FOFs (Friends of ``Finkie") won't be disappointed in this film, and nobody else really matters.

Janice Page can be reached at jpage@globe.com.