I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Fresh and Exciting

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Rival aluminum-siding salesmen find themselves an increasingly hostile tit-for-tat feud spurred on by an automobile accident this Barry Levinson movie. One of two films that Levinson made in 1987, 'Tin Men' never quite found the same audience as 'Good Morning, Vietnam', which is a shame as it is arguably better, even if its lack of appeal to some is understandable. Both protagonists are, after all, very lowdown and despicable characters and while both have their occasion quirks, this is one of those films in which there is not a single likable character in sight. This is a deliberate move by Levinson though as the pair's feud is constantly contrasted against their shady business practices and salesmanship techniques, such as dropping a $5 note and insisting that it is not yours to convince a potential client of your honesty. The feud also coincides with the whole aluminum-siding industry being investigated for unfair selling practices and there is a sense that the protagonists are driven to their extremes as a result of the way they have learnt to work; "deceit is an occupational hazard" as one claims. Knowing this does not make Barbara Hershey's subplot any more credible, nor does it render either lead especially sympathetic, but it does provide some sense of perspective as the idea here is to observe how the characters operate, not to get to like them for who they are. Add in some genuinely funny moments (Dreyfuss realising that DeVito actually doesn't love his wife) and 'Tin Men' is a flawed film that still works surprisingly well. The conclusion is pitch perfect too.

If you really want to find the essence of American urban life in the 1950's and 1960's, just spend a few hours at either an east-coast diner or in a 1960 Cadillac. Sometimes I think Barry Levinson must have owned a Cadillac and driven to diners where he overheard dialog which he scribbled into a notebook. (His first movie was of course called "Diner".) Levinson has captured the atmosphere of the era through his realistic dialog that seems lifted straight from the dirty tables and dry pancakes. A bunch of friends eating at a diner and yapping about TV shows and broads is what real east-coast urban American life is all about. And when these guys are not drinking coffee and dividing up the check, they're driving their Cadillacs to potential customers to sell aluminum siding. This is the second of Levinson's Baltimore trilogy.The term "tin men" referred to aluminum siding salesmen who were just a cut under car salesmen and just above con artists. In the 1950's and 1960's when competition tightened, some of these salesmen used seemingly innocent but deceptive tactics on a very naive and trusting public who have since gotten very wise to this kind of manipulation. These hard-sell approaches included bate and switch, falsely promising free extras, and fabricating associations with nationwide magazines. Barry Levinson thrusts us into the middle of a rivalry between two of the more devious of aluminum siding salesmen, played by two of the most nervous-angst actors in the business: Danny DeVito and Richard Dreyfus. The casting of these two against each other has to have been from heaven. The smart-alec Dreyfus versus the self-centered DeVito makes for a clash of the urban sales titans early 1960's style.DeVito and Dreyfus literally "run into each other" and begin a heated game of oneupmanship that at first involves their cars and then DeVito's wife played with subtle realism by Barbara Hershey. (Of course the biggest mystery of the film is how Hershey ended up with DeVito in the first place but that could be the subject of a PhD dissertation.) The cars owned by the salesmen are important enough to also be characters. This game of king of the hill is at the forefront of the shady practices enacted by the tin men to get customers. Some of the most interesting aspects of the film are the games they play to make sales. Their customers are often very simple and trusting folk who don't realize they are being taken by sharks. But looming in the background is the US Housing Commission who are starting to become wise to their practices.A very enjoyable film overall, completely unpredictable, with fantastic performances by the three leads DeVito, Dreyfus, and Hershey. Of course, would you buy anything from these guys? I'm sure you never thought your house could use some aluminum siding.

I think it is among the best movies i've ever seen. It gives me somehow a good feeling every time i watch it. The life of the two characters played by Danny DeVito and Richard Dreyfuss could be the life of any of us. It makes the movie smell like real life. It is a simple story about a simple life of some "special" tin agents struggling for survival in a non friendly political environment. They only want to sell their product. They have many tricks to do that. The two characters are in the same industry but they have turned against each other because of a simple and minor car accident. As the story develops we can look into the life of the two characters. See their friends, their family their problems their happiness. We don't know who is the good guy and who is the bad one. The point is, after the movie we just simple start loving both of the characters just because they are as human as just any of us. There is no action, blood and sex in this movie just the story of some ordinary people but with so much humor, love and sense that you can't miss it!

Oddball, retro films like this never make the all-time top 100 lists – like one of its characters, "Tin Men" comes across as a bit of a small guy, not one of life's winners. But you're missing something quite special if you let the sound of the film put you off. Two rival salesmen in a tough market play dirtier and dirtier in a childish tit-for-tat game, raising a storm of revenge and recrimination until they drag long-suffering wife Barbara Hershey into their fight, raising the stakes for them all. Crackling with expertly ad-libbed dialogue from actors who are clearly enjoying themselves, it's like a masterclass in flowing, naturalistic dialogue – and it's very, very funny. Richard Dreyfus (he reminds me of Richard Widmark – a reliable character actor who never gets his due) and Danny DeVito are a marvel of casting perfection. Scenes such as those in the diner where the rival groups of tin men chew the fat in their own unique and entertaining ways, show pale imitators how it's done: shame on all modern Hollywood scripts that pad out a weak story by having actors babble a great deal of nonsense, very fast (Lethal Weapon 4, anyone?).I hate films about salesmen: that isn't what this is. "Tin Men" has rounded characters in a believably drawn world (in which a man's car might just come higher up the list than his wife) and a story that's really just about human beings who laugh, fail, make mistakes and don't always triumph at the end – shot and scripted with a light touch. I'd recommend you make this one you try and watch, if you can ever find it playing. A rare treat.