Oddball, retro films like this never make the all-time top 100 lists like one of its characters, "Tin Men" comes across as a bit of a small guy, not one of life's winners. But you're missing something quite special if you let the sound of the film put you off. Two rival salesmen in a tough market play dirtier and dirtier in a childish tit-for-tat game, raising a storm of revenge and recrimination until they drag long-suffering wife Barbara Hershey into their fight, raising the stakes for them all.
Crackling with expertly ad-libbed dialogue from actors who are clearly enjoying themselves, it's like a masterclass in flowing, naturalistic dialogue and it's very, very funny. Richard Dreyfus (he reminds me of Richard Widmark a reliable character actor who never gets his due) and Danny DeVito are a marvel of casting perfection. Scenes such as those in the diner where the rival groups of tin men chew the fat in their own unique and entertaining ways, show pale imitators how it's done: shame on all modern Hollywood scripts that pad out a weak story by having actors babble a great deal of nonsense, very fast (Lethal Weapon 4, anyone?).
I hate films about salesmen: that isn't what this is. "Tin Men" has rounded characters in a believably drawn world (in which a man's car might just come higher up the list than his wife) and a story that's really just about human beings who laugh, fail, make mistakes and don't always triumph at the end shot and scripted with a light touch. I'd recommend you make this one you try and watch, if you can ever find it playing. A rare treat.
Crackling with expertly ad-libbed dialogue from actors who are clearly enjoying themselves, it's like a masterclass in flowing, naturalistic dialogue and it's very, very funny. Richard Dreyfus (he reminds me of Richard Widmark a reliable character actor who never gets his due) and Danny DeVito are a marvel of casting perfection. Scenes such as those in the diner where the rival groups of tin men chew the fat in their own unique and entertaining ways, show pale imitators how it's done: shame on all modern Hollywood scripts that pad out a weak story by having actors babble a great deal of nonsense, very fast (Lethal Weapon 4, anyone?).
I hate films about salesmen: that isn't what this is. "Tin Men" has rounded characters in a believably drawn world (in which a man's car might just come higher up the list than his wife) and a story that's really just about human beings who laugh, fail, make mistakes and don't always triumph at the end shot and scripted with a light touch. I'd recommend you make this one you try and watch, if you can ever find it playing. A rare treat.