It's the middle of winter in Wisconsin. Mickey Prohaska (Greg Kinnear) is an unscrupulous well-dressed insurance salesman. There is no such thing as over-insured. His wife Jo Ann (Lea Thompson) had kicked him out of the house. He befriends new salesman Bob Egan (David Harbour) who introduces him to prospective client in absent-minded farmer Gorvy Hauer (Alan Arkin). Leonard Dahl (Bob Balaban) from Chicago is looking to buy Gorvy's rare old violin worth $25k. With mounting money troubles, Mickey tries to scam the violin from Gorvy. The situation gets more complicated as Gorvy hires Randy Kinney (Billy Crudup) to install a security system.
When Dahl enters the movie, I assumed this to be an elaborate scam by everybody against Mickey although the value of the violin needs to be higher. I wouldn't mind that movie but Billy Crudup changes everything. He turns it into something different. There is an issue with Mickey's extremely flawed plan. It would be discovered relatively quickly and he would be a prime suspect. Even without the flaw, Mickey is no one to root for. It makes his troubles rather comical and lacking in interest. I don't think I care what happens to Mickey and I hope Randy gets real crazy on his head.
When Dahl enters the movie, I assumed this to be an elaborate scam by everybody against Mickey although the value of the violin needs to be higher. I wouldn't mind that movie but Billy Crudup changes everything. He turns it into something different. There is an issue with Mickey's extremely flawed plan. It would be discovered relatively quickly and he would be a prime suspect. Even without the flaw, Mickey is no one to root for. It makes his troubles rather comical and lacking in interest. I don't think I care what happens to Mickey and I hope Randy gets real crazy on his head.