In bringing a film about a garden snail that dreams of winning the Indy 500, it’s as if the makers of “Turbo” had been pressed to come up with the most extreme* underdog* tale they could think of.

    “The sooner you accept the dull, miserable* nature of your existence*, the happier you’ll be,” worldly-wise snail Chet (Paul Giamatti) advises his younger brother Turbo (Ryan Reynolds) after yet another day spent in a garden tomato patch. Turbo spends all his downtime* watching video tapes of professional car races, especially the many won by his hero, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader).

    One night Turbo, coming upon a Fast & Furious-style drag race* in the dry Los Angeles River bed, gets sucked into an engine. Instead of being toasted, however, the little guy becomes infused with nitrous oxide*, enabling him to zoom along the ground seemingly as fast as Superman shoots through the skies.

    Of course, Turbo needs a sponsor*, which he finds in the form of Van Nuys truck driver Tito (Michael Pena), a wild dreamer himself who argues with his more practical brother Angelo (Luis Guzman) about the merits of promoting their business — Dos Bros Tacos — with a snail. Joining in is a group of supporting snails and neighboring business owners.

    Once the gang arrives at Indianapolis and begins overcoming the difficulties that might prevent a snail from entering a car race, the formerly genial* Guy Gagne suddenly becomes a bad guy, feeling so threatened by the now-mighty snail that he goes to all lengths to prevent a humiliating* defeat.

    Of course, the message of the film, as with so many other inspirational* cartoons, is that no dream is too big, and you can do anything if you set your mind to it. (SD-Agencies)