Cadillac Man

Not Robin Williams's greatest movie by any stretch, but still pretty funny, "Cadillac Man" casts him as car salesman Joey O'Brien, whose life is falling apart. His marriage is in the toilet and he has to sell 12 cars or he loses his job. Just when it seems that things couldn't get any worse, angry husband Larry (Tim Robbins) hijacks Joey's lot. From there, it's mostly a series of gags.

This seems like the sort of movie that they just made for fun. And it is pretty fun. Don't expect any life-changing experiences from watching it (e.g., Williams doesn't launch into any wacky monologues); just sit back and enjoy. I don't understand how a previous reviewer thought that this movie relates to quantum mechanics (but then again, I don't know anything about quantum mechanics). Also starring Fran Drescher and Annabella Sciorra.

Joey O'Brien (Robin Williams) is a relentless car salesman. The car lot is moving and there will fewer sales jobs. He has two days to sell 12 cars to make an impression. He spends all of his money on the women in his life; ex-wife Tina (Pamela Reed), married woman Joy Munchack (Fran Drescher) and party girl Lila (Lori Petty). Then Larry (Tim Robbins) breaks in with a gun suspecting his wife Donna (Annabella Sciorra) is cheating with somebody in the car lot. Donna is grazed by a bullet. Joey tries to take the blame for an affair despite not sleeping with Donna. He tries to talk Larry down as the police surrounds them.

Everything is wacky. Everybody is loud. They are all yelling. It is generally not funny except when Robin gets a few laughs with the help of Tim Robbins. I do not see Roger Donaldson as a funny director. It is trying to be Dog Day Afternoon but it does not have the gritty reality. Even the cops are deliberately loud. The police negotiator is one of the most antagonist negotiator in any movie. Everyone is deliberately set on edge and it does not make it funny.

This movie is worth a watch, but only if you are willing to pay attention to the myriad subtle jokes in it.

Those who think it only occasionally funny just weren't paying attention to EVERY scene with the hostage negotiation team in the restaurant, and lots of subtle jokes in the dialog between Williams and Robbins, and the phone calls out of the car dealership.

This movie took a chance with 'intelligent humor'. Not that the humor is that intelligent, it just doesn't hit you over the head with obvious jokes. It is a take off on the 'real' 'cookie cutter' hostage dramas, and the fun it makes of them is subtle. (For example, the cops' reaction, after disbelieving that Larry has brought explosives taped to his bike, when it is 'revealed' to them that he obtained them in Jersey. There is no over the top joke, but it is VERY funny if you are paying attention and have enough common knowledge to get it).

Unfortunately, there probably just aren't enough 'intelligent viewers' out there for this film to get its due. There certainly weren't among the others leaving comments about it! LOL

This movie is funny, insightful, and alarming all at the same time. This is a synopsis of mostly Italian American life in working class burroughs of NY (Queens, Long Island, whatever). Joey (Robin Williams) is juggling two neurotic girlfriends and an ex-wife while struggling to keep his job as a smooth talking car salesman. The movie starts off with a shot of a cemetery in Queens, the biggest damn cemetery I have ever seen. It gives you the feeling of crowdedness, that even in death people are crowded and are probably still arguing over elbow room. Joey is desperate and even tries to sell a car to a widow as she is burying her husband. Eventually, a distraught and somewhat deranged husband of the car dealer's secretary takes over the dealership with a machine gun, convinced that somebody there is screwing with his sexy wife (which is true). It isn't Joey, but he takes the rap and tries to talk the guy down, doing a pretty good job. Car salesman becomes psychologist, and he does an amazingly good job, along with help from a phone call from both his wife and his mother to the distraught man. This is the best part of the movie. You see Joey and Larry (Robbins) play out this scene with both humor and fright. Larry is trying to prove his manhood to his wife. You understand his plight and feel his pain, and at the same time you see the mans compassion, especially with the phone calls from Joey's ex-wife and mother. There is something very real about this scene and I would think that someone who has to talk down a hostage situation might gain something from watching how Joey makes connections with Larry on a personal level. Eventually Larry sees what a mess Joey's life is and starts to see that actually his situation isn't that bad. This movie is as much about the alienation and frustration of modern life as anything else. The movie is loud and frantic and might put you off in that respect, but hang with it.

Robin Williams gives yet another superb performance as an egotistical car salesman who is about to confront all of his demons (ex-wife, girlfriends, Mafia buddy) in one very long afternoon when Tim Robbins crashes into the door and holds him and the customers hostage. Incredibly funny, vividly life-like with an unpredictable ending. Not one to miss.