Suckers

After running across this movie last night late on cable I finally clicked on it. Like most nights on cable there is usually very little to watch that you haven't already seen or are categorically something you simply don't watch ever for any reason. One of my things is that I just cant take movies that are nothing but endless streams of suffering and pain and shootings and car crashings and people who get shot and don't bleed or cry or AND people who are splattered all over the screen. I just don't get all that crap. Life is hard enough, why do you have to absorb angry people on screen doing things that are mean and actually kill and torture others, be it with their words or their actions.

So, with all that said, this movie violates a tiny part of my overall total tiredness with nonsensical violence and extreme horrors being done to others on-screen. It is full of men who are being pretty much nothing but the lowest common denominator, which is simply the law of the jungle, eat or be eaten. But they're doing it in the format of a car lot as salesmen who have created careful scripts for handling customers and driving the customer to give up more than they may have had to if the customer had know the salesman's goal, which is just to get all they can get at all costs. And all costs means simply that being truthful isn't necessary or a reasonable thing for a salesman to do. But on top of that they're being mean to each other. Granted they're learning the hard knocks of that business and finding their way like the members of a pride of lions must find their way when the feeding frenzy begins otherwise they will starve.

And of course these guys are always busy couching everything in terms of being either a person who is a god of maleness who can have whoever he wants any time OR, he must be someone who can easily be pushed over by another man or anyone at all who can then rape him in the anus. Yes, you all know what i'm saying here. They're all full of stupid talk which, ever since Pulp Fiction, its pretty much that same nonsense that was fresh for a couple of years back in the mid nineties. But as this was made in 1998 for a 1999 release I guess we can forgive this tired way of talking on screen (though the guys at Entourage are certainly giving this way of speaking a much needed freshening up and making it fun again these days in 2007).

But, in spite of all this, this movie just just fun to watch. There is truly something going on here that transcends the story of these hungry wolves. It shows us we are all wolves.

And the way it does is to show that the customers aren't stupid either. But they have learned that if a used car saleswolf will behave in a certain way then customers have individually come up with strategies to keep themselves alive when the wolf makes his charge. And these are hilarious. Which make the men hilarious.

What the other people here who have reviewed this movie have noted is that there are some unfortunate (to the movie) side story lines that simply show that the writers here had something great going but didn't know what to do with it, so somebody just decided to send this movie down a tired and well-worn path to make it all end in a way that other movies have done. Most of this movie is fantastic movie making, but the tiredness of the side stories, as tedious and uninspired as they are, still somehow don't take away the joy of watching the majority of this movie.

Though its a bunch of men being mean to each other for the most part, its somehow great. When drug dealers and tired TIRED story lines like that disgrace the writers just realize that these are the moments you can slip away to the bathroom or get a snack. But when all that side crap goes away and the saleslions are taking to the zebra fields, then its great movie making.

If you rent it, I promise you'll be glad you did.

having been in the car business for several years, yeah OK so most of this is pretty accurate. I've been there done that, and yes i've even done a few sales trainings on what reggie talked about and even done some of the closes and the walk and talk. But the only thing about this movie that was disturbing was the ending. But the whole drug thing is pretty close. But the underlying emotion in this movie is the guilt the new salesman felt. Think about it his little episode, there comes a point (even i had it) that after pulling so much crap that you truly do start to feel a little guilty. However the pretense under which it is done? C'mon "my credit union says that if i buy this car i won't be able to feed my family" Thats a load of S***! His credit union would't give him the money anyways. And any bank would decline the app (unless you jiggy it a little and fudge some things) but credit unions aren't that smart to tell someone what they can and can't do, they just wouldn't do it. But reggie sure came through, is that your name? you own the car, get the f*** out of here. that is the best part!! Kinda reminds me of vegas. "hi i'm the sales manager, other than returning the car, what can i do for you today"

Watch this movie if you plan to purchase a car anytime soon! Everything is true from the meetings to the banter between the salesmen and customer. I was introduced to this movie by my manager at a Dodge dealership and it was like the movie was a documentary of our store. Most car salesmen (especially used car salesmen) are very shady and will do anything to make the sale, I know that this is common knowledge But watch this movie and arm yourselves for buying a car because it's all true!

I stumbled across this movie late night on cable. I missed the first ten minutes or so. I actually thought I was watching some kind of documentary or personal story of the car business. The slang is correct, the "techniques" are accurate, everything. The movie fails as far as storyline and general quanlity of the picture, but everyone must see it for the sheer realism and boldness of that industry.

If you are in the car business, this movie does ring true here and there. The actual truth is I worked at the dealership this movie was based on (it is a proved fact, the writer of this movie worked at this dealership for about 2 years). Did ALL of these things happen? No. I would say a majority of the incidents in this movie did happen but were BLOWN UP or exaggerated to make for good entertainment. The blatant racism in this movie does not occur in the car business. The car business is the one business in the world that welcomes all of the melting pot through its doors. Uneducated? English not your first language? No scholastic possibilities? Don't mind long hours? Wanna make a lot of money? WHEN CAN YOU START? The drug content in this movie was ridiculous. All of that is for effect, we don't sit around snorting cocaine and waiting for customers. The thing about this movie that made me laugh were the white, bald headed General Manager and the black Closer. I know both of the gentleman that these characters were based on and the actors hit a home run. They were represented perfectly. The scene where they bring all of the items outside (desk, chairs, tables) for the customer who would not go inside happened just like that. I actual like the movie, some of the scenes were hilarious and the jokes were funny but at the end of this movie, there is some lame presentation about how to buy a car from the writer. Take it from someone who has been in the business a long time, he knows about 20% of what needs to be known to speak on the car buying process. The bottom line is a Car Salesperson is a professional whose job is to make as much money on you as possible. The customer's job is to savve as much money as they can - A good salesperson sells 15 cars a month and works about 50 deals to make that 15. Mr. Customer, you're gonna lose every time. All in all, the movie is entertaining, check it out.