Tin Men (1987)

This was a comedy near masterpiece and one of the best movies about Salesmen ever made. This vastly underrated and obscure movie really entertains as Dreyfus and DeVito deliver a bellicose duet of tit-for-tat with no holds barred ferocity. The dialogue, acting and pacing of this movie are wonderful and it's all about the sleazy world of Aluminum Siding Sales. There is not a shred of virtue among the two stars or their magnificent supporting cast. We are shown Sales techniques that we all suspected existed, and the Home Improvement Commission is also interested in these guys, but not in a good way.Mix into the fray of these questionable business practices the intense and violent personal feud between BB Babowsky and Ernest Tillie and the never-ending personal waterloos for the latter, and you have a recipe for hilarity. A fender bender with two Cadillacs erupts into full scale war and the ultimate outcome is hilariously surprising. I cannot say enough about the supporting cast and their continuous contribution to this movie, this is what made it great. The never-ending discussion about the deficiencies in realism of the time period show Bonanza ("This show is about a 50 year old father and his 3 47 year old sons…from different mothers!") was genuinely inspired, as well as Sam's vegetable epiphany about god at the smörgåsbord (salad bar).Nothing goes right for Tillie, as he deals with setback after setback. His car is smashed, he is broke because he's lost his Sales touch, his marriage is in shambles and the Home Improvement Commission as well as the IRS are knocking on his door. BB Babowsky seems to be winning their violent feud, but in a surprising twist, his plan for the ultimate revenge has some very unintended consequences.These men love their dark and questionable careers as much as they love their Cadillacs and the continuous revelations about their trade, and its shoddy sales practices, are priceless. If you can find this movie, buy it.

I saw this when it first came out, and I said to everyone- "this has one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a long while". I kept telling everyone that the song in the background-which is of course, "Good Thing" when Dreyfuss is kind of jigging thru the bar, was a great song, with a very catchy melody. So, I was not surprised at all, when the Fine Young Cannibals CD, "The Raw and the Cooked" released after this film- went all the way to the top (it contained 2 songs from this film) That said, I LOVE the storyline, the acting, Richard Dreyfuss is adorable, looks wise and character wise. I loved him in "The Goodbye Girl" but LOVED him in this! The funniest scene in my opinion involves Danny DeVito, at the buffet, I will not spoil it-but I thought it was hysterical! Barbara Hershey BEFORE she had collagen lips-is charming too. Highly recommend and I want this in my DVD collection!!!

Chronicles the adventures of Frazier Crane's father, Mo, before he retired to Seattle on a bum leg.While very few Barry L movies ever make it past contrived unfunny nonsense, Tin Men is a definite winner. Barry takes us back to his revered 1960s Baltimore and the ensemble cast has graduated from Diners drifter 20 somethings, to of all things, aluminum siding peddlers on the threshold of middle age. For some inexplicable reason, its not as dumb as it sounds. The performances are, to a man (and woman in Hersheys lone case) first rate. The script witty and touching. Above all however, is Tin Men's ability to get a laugh. From the Bonanza discussions that Tarentino would later graft onto his own Reservoir Dogs, to the 'tit for tat' revenge storyline, its all very very good. Even old Richard Dreyfuss who is probably the most all round unlikeable dude to ever carry the title of 'leading man', gives an uncharacteristically suitable performance. The mincing, whining, face-making exaggerated body language, in this film all works to perfection. DeVito with his extremely limited range, again lands himself in a movie that totally welcomes his character.You would like to have seen just how Fraziers dad (Mahoney) injured his leg, but for some reason it is not detailed here. Levinson cant help being Levinson and strangely inserts the music of the Fine Young Cannibals into a film supposedly set 25 years earlier. Go figure.

I just plain didn't like this movie. I didn't think any of the jokes were funny and it was boring. Who wants to watch a movie about TIN salesmen? I don't think Richard Dreyfuss or Danny DeVito are that funny. Plus, it was weird when Danny DeVito's wife had an affair with Richard Dreyfuss. I can't imagine Richard Dreyfuss having a romance in ANY movie. I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me on this one, but I thought this was an awful movie. Bad comedies are the worst kinds of movies, the kind no one wants to watch. This is one of them. People who watch this movie are wasting their time. No doubt Richard Dreyfuss is a good actor, as we have seen from his Oscar for "The Goodbye Girl". I also enjoyed him in "Jaws". I just don't think comedy or romance is his vocation. As for Danny DeVito: he plays the same role each time and is good at those kinds of roles, but he's missing humor.