Cadillac Man
Itâs been said before and bears repeating: When the late Robin Williams was reined in by a good script and a smart director from firing away on all cylinders in a movie performance with constant manic adlibs and improv that would detract from both the story and whatever character he happened to be playing, he was actually capable of doing some fine work onscreen. The problem with Williams (as it was with Dennis Leary in his film roles) was that he would incorporate his own patented stand up comedy style (which was funny on stage) into his movie performances and with the exception of Aladdin (where he didnât appear on screen), more often than not it just came across as being insufferable. But a CONTROLLED Robin Williams performance (even in a comedy) could be absolutely golden and this 1990 release (extremely underrated and overlooked in its day) remains possibly his best lead performance, at least in a comedy. Williams plays Joey OâBrien, a used car salesman who is such a shameless huckster that he is seen in the opening sequence trying to sell a car to a grieving widow at her husbandâs funeral and getting rightfully dressed down by her as a result. Joey (in both voiceover narration and literal fourth wall asides to the audience and the camera) describes his love of selling as almost being like an addiction, a proverbial adrenaline rush that always starts with (and sadly requires) him handing his card to almost everyone he meets and even those who have known him for years, encouraging them to âcome by the lotâ so that he can cut a deal for them on either a new or used car. This mild commentary on the compulsion of a salesman who feels it necessary to do such a thing (even if it gets them in hot water or cussed out) is only the beginning of the exploration of this character and the turmoil of his life. Weâre told that over the years Joey has squandered a small fortune on the real passion of his life which is WOMEN and lots of them. Turns out that he has several girlfriends and is carrying on simultaneous relationships with (among others) his ex wife (Pamela Reed) with whom he has a troubled teenage daughter, a spoiled socialite (Fran Drescher with her real life Pomeranian dog Chester in tow) who has a rich husband of her own, and a wacko, attention starved âclothing designerâ (Lori Petty in the filmâs most annoying performance) who thinks that being and acting different will get her noticed when really itâs all about the level of talent you can display. The only major female characters off limits to him are his female co worker (the most successful salesperson on the lot) played by Judith Hoag who easily laughs off any and all of his advances and the smoking hot secretary at the lot (Annabella Sciorra) whom the ownerâs son (Paul Guilfoyle) is carrying on an affair with instead. Joey has got other problems in his life, including his daughter running away from home, owing 20 grand to a local mob boss (whose idiot, long haired, pretty boy son works at the lot washing cars) who stresses to Joey that he has only so much time left before heâs going to collect the debt the hard way, and worse of all, being told by the ownerâs son (who seems to play good boss / bad boss with the best of them) that the business is moving to a new location and that most of the sales team will be let go unless one or more of them can manage to sell no less than 12 cars in a single day when a big clearance sale is being held at the lot. The big day could not be any more stressful for Joey as his ex is telephoning him in a panic over their daughter running away, Drescher shows up to buy a car with her rich husband (Zack Norman) in tow and several other customers show up to hem and haw while they work the sales staff with the whole maybe / maybe not routine. At this point the film appears to have enough juice to play itself out as being a wild day at the car lot, but at one point we find out that Sciorraâs secretary has an unemployed husband (Tim Robbins) who is insanely jealous and paranoid that his wife is screwing around on him. At about 40 minutes into the movie, the entire trajectory of the film shifts completely when Robbins crashes his motorcycle through the front window, carrying a rifle and claiming to have a bomb strapped to his bike, taking everybody hostage and demanding to know just who exactly it is thatâs screwing his wife. Itâs believed by many who have viewed the film that the events that follow are implausible to put it mildly, but to maintain that stance would be to negate the main point of the story which is that Joey, fast talking salesman that he is, would now need to do the sales pitch of a lifetime in order to contain the situation and get everyone out alive (including Robbins) while the police and snipers surround the building just waiting to put down this hostage taker with extreme prejudice. It would seem that Joey has an easy mark to work with as Robbins is essentially just a big dumb lug who can be readily manipulated and even made docile if talked to the right way. Joey first makes the ballsy claim that HE is the one screwing Robbinsâ wife (even though heâs not and the ownerâs son who IS screwing her is too busy finding himself a hiding place) which deflects Robbins and his blind rage from everyone else and then Joey eventually manages to become his advovate of sorts, speaking with and negotiating directly with the cops on Robbinsâ behalf, all while selling Robbins on the benefits of releasing hostages as the day goes on. Really the film evolves into a two character piece (with several others looking on) as Joey not only wheels and deals, but actually sits there and talks to Robbins about his issues and insecurities as we find out that this ruthless hostage taker is really more scared of himself literally hurting somebody else than anybody is scared of being hurt by him, having undertaken this whole endeavor because A) he really is that stupid, B) he really is that hurt and distraught to the point of insanity, and C) he clumsily thought that making such a big display like this would prove to his wife the devotion that he has to her. Unfortunately, the NYPD outside doesnât know (or care) about any of that which leads to some testy phone conversations between Joey and the cops. Worse, other women in Joeyâs life have started showing up at the scene which basically outs him to everybody as being the womanizer that he is (even Robbins is amazed). Indeed, if there is one nagging moral conflict that the film seems to purposely gloss over, itâs the idea that adultery is viewed as being âno big dealâ (at least amongst these characters) and that the main selling point that Joey is making to Robbins is that he should think of it as being that way too when it was his own blind rage over his wifeâs infidelities that has driven him to his near suicidal actions, thus almost condoning that kind of behavior as being the kind of thing that everybody does anyway. Regardless, the acting remains strong and the mix of humor with a couple of serious moments is potent as well. Williams plays Joey as a guy already at the end of his rope even before Robbins comes crashing in which makes one wonder if his play of pretending to be the guy that Robbinsâ wife is screwing (with the well intentioned aim of saving everybody else) was not just a bit of suicidal wishful thinking on his part as well. Also, Joey is shown making a lot of promises to Robbins towards the end as part of his âpitchâ including standing beside him no matter what happens afterwards which makes one wonder if all that was really sincere on his part or if it was just a ploy to âclose the saleâ and finally get himself out of there in one piece while leaving Robbins to his fate at the hands of the wolves in the legal system. Obviously, we donât know nor do we find out any of that, but the strength of the movie is still in the long buildup as we get to know this sleazy car salesman character and then in how he finds his own redemption of sorts by calming down this armed marauder with some guy to guy straight talk, making this a comedy with a humanistic feel that in this day and age of real life mass shootings, marks a refreshing change in depicting the outcome of such an event even if it remains squarely grounded in pure fantasy, not even coming close to overtaking Robert Zemeckisâ Used Cars as the greatest car salesman movie ever, but rather just doing its own thing in putting across the idea that even a slimy bastard and a crazed gunman are both still human beings tooâŚ
9/10