Barry Levinson's Tin Men is not a particularly good movie. It is also not a particularly awful movie. It is just a bland film with some amusing moments and attempted humor. Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito are reliable as always, but even their combined power cannot completely save a dull, contrived script from Levinson. Fortunately, Levinson had a much better film that came out in 1987. I was a little surprised about the good reviews the movie received. Maybe I harbor some ugly hatred towards salespeople? Who really knows. The real fault lies in Levinson's script. It is a talky, rather bland movie about two con men at war against one another.
Starting with Diner, Levinson created a series of films in the 80's and 90's that tell the stories of everyday folks in Baltimore. "The Baltimore quadrology" Mr. Levinson called it. Interestingly enough, this is the only one out of the four films I have seen to this point. My interest is piqued enough where I want to see the other films because the director does have some interesting spotlights on Baltimore. As much as I found the story and the characters dull, I actually was fascinated on the history of these "con" men. The film takes place in 1958 and a commission was taking place to review the tactics the salespeople use. There were several scams at play. My personal favorite is "The Life Magazine scam," where a picture of a house is given to show how ugly a house is before aluminum siding is added. If you think salespeople are bad now, it seems like they were worse back in the day. See how they truly operate!
This film is basically an escalating war between two middle-aged men. Yeah, these characters are acting like man-babies over something dumb. BB Babowsky (Richard Dreyfuss) is a smooth, fast-talking hustler and also a ladies man. Ernest Tilley (Danny DeVito) has little money because he can never make a sale and is in debt thanks to a major gambling issue. Tilley's wife, Nora (Barbara Hershey) is unhappy with him. These two men begin their feud over a minor car accident and it grows larger and larger to the point where the two men are trying to ruin each other's life. It gets worse when the government sticks their nose into their affairs and decides to investigate them for their tactics.
The performances are fine and reliable. Dreyfuss plays a similar character to 1986's Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Both smooth-talking womanizers. DeVito's character is amusing, especially when you see him fail miserably at making a sale. You kind of feel sorry for him. Barbara Hershey is likewise good. You feel her pain when she gets wooed by BB because Ernest cannot please her well enough. The film managed to put together a nice ensemble that features John Mahoney, Bruno Kirby, Jackie Gayle, and Richard Portnow.
Tin Men is fine for what it is. It's not good or bad, just an average, bland comedy. It is one of those films that you will find amusing in the moment but will forget about maybe even an hour later. That said, you cannot go wrong watching Dreyfuss and DeVito spar with one another. Maybe they just hate each other because they hate themselves and their idea of being con men.
My Grade: C+
