# Tin Men--anyone else seen this movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053 "2009-10-08T15:08:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/1 "2009-10-08T15:08:04Z")
I caught this last night on one of the movie channels. Stars Danny Devito and Richard Dreyfus as aluminum siding salesmen. Billed as a comedy, it does have a few funny moments, but it’s also something of a character study. None of the characters are particularly sympathetic. Devito and Dreyfus are con men, and Barbara Hershey is a cheating wife. I liked the film. It’s not a “Great Movie” or anything, but I was entertained. Dreyfus looks something like Paul Newman. Nice job by Devito in a leading role. Just wondering if anyone else saw the film and has any comments… ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/2 "2009-10-08T15:10:15Z")
I love it. It’s kind of depressing, even though they are sleazebags, to see them put out of their livelihood. i just love the opening credits, with Nat King Cole’s Sweet Lorraine. > [@](#): > > “You bolted out of nowhere!” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/3 "2009-10-08T15:34:14Z")
Also enjoyed John Mahoney in a supporting role. I’m more familiar with him as Frasier’s dad, so it was kinda funny to see him as a con man. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/4 "2009-10-08T15:49:05Z")
This is part of Barry Levinson’s Baltimore trilogy (along with _Diner_ and _Avalon_), and in some ways, the best of the three, though unquestionably the hardest to warm up to (it’s the least sentimental, for one thing). Haven’t seen it in ages, but may well be worth a revisit… ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/5 "2009-10-08T17:14:35Z")
I haven’t seen this film in, what, 20 years? It was OK, all I really seem to recall: Danny Devito’s character’s Cadillac getting rather beat by the end. Danny Devito telling Richard Dreyfus that he can have his (Devito’s character’s) cheating wife, and Dreyfus’s expression at that being somewhere between surprise and ‘oh crap’ The attractive 1960s-stylish single women at the nightclub licking their lips and giving all kinds of visual flirting cues to Dreyfus when he enters (I happen to like seeing attractive 1960s-stylish women flirting)… And…that’s about it ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/6 "2009-10-08T17:36:02Z")
Fine Young Cannibals! ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/7 "2009-10-08T19:52:43Z")
‘Bonanza’ is not an accurate depiction of the west. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/8 "2009-10-08T20:11:08Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > This is part of Barry Levinson’s Baltimore trilogy (along with _Diner_ and _Avalon_), and in some ways, the best of the three, though unquestionably the hardest to warm up to (it’s the least sentimental, for one thing). Haven’t seen it in ages, but may well be worth a revisit… Quadrilogy, with _Liberty Heights_, another fine period comedy-drama based in Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/9 "2009-10-08T20:12:09Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > ‘Bonanza’ is not an accurate depiction of the west. This is part of my family’s lexicon. I enjoyed the movie even before I moved to Baltimore. I’m pretty sure I have it on tape. Might have to dust it off. The Bonanza discussion and the smorgasbord scenes are fun. The things that stand out in my mind are DeVito asking his wife if she’s seen his white on white shirt, and when he describes pelting Dreyfus with eggs and tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/10 "2009-10-09T05:22:06Z")
I saw this maybe 20 years ago also. IIRC, I enjoyed it. Should I put forth the effort to find a rental version? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/11 "2009-10-09T06:26:39Z")
I thought it was a great movie. And as a Californian I really noticed the city of Baltimore as a character in the movie. An interesting character. ---
**Author:** ![tattman40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tattman40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tattman40)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/12 "2009-10-09T13:11:48Z")
“Wash it down twice a year with a hose” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/13 "2009-10-09T16:02:57Z")
This job is free! That’s a great movie. If you liked this one you should check out Avalon and Diner. All are directed by Barry Levinson. They also feature Baltimore as a ‘character’. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/14 "2009-10-09T16:44:49Z")
I liked the movie a lot, and there was nothing inherently wrong with any of the performances… and yet, I had a problem with the casting. I just couldn’t buy Danny De Vito married to Barbara Hershey. They tried to deglamorize her, but it just didn’t quite work. She was just WAY too attractive to be believable as the wife of a guy like Danny. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-men-anyone-else-seen-this-movie/513053/15 "2009-10-10T10:14:30Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Dreyfus looks something like Paul Newman. I think he _always_ looks like Newman.