Touches You

Good movie but grossly overrated

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

These days we seem to have increasing numbers of movies with special fx and huge budgets but poorly drawn characters and plots. Tin Men is one of my favourite movies for 6 reasons: 1 It's set in a small world inhabited by Aluminium siding salesmen trying to sell cladding to cover up the characteristic Baltimore brick Clook and with the backdrop of a 'Home Improvement Commission' set to break all of the salesmen's scams. The scams and backdrop are really amusing. 2 The backdrop allows some real characters to shine - hopes and fears, they're very believable recognisable characters. And rounded characters. And the movie is full of fantastic cameos. 3 The plot is fantastic. It has a beginning, middle and end, and the it builds and is finely structured with the hints of what is going to happen woven in a carefully constructed progression. It has an economical structure with some believable and clear plot twists. Fantastic writing and editing. 4 The actors and setting are bullet proof. 1963 Baltimore is perfect and Richard Dreyfus, Danny deVito, and Barbara Hershey as the leads are perfection. 5 The sound track is just great. I hate most of this sort of music cold but it is an integral part of the plot. The Fine Young Cannibals, heading by the unmistakable voice of Roland Gift singing 'Good Thing' is also brilliant.Things to watch - when Tilly (deVito) has made what he thinks is his comeback sale and they go to the bar and FTC are singing,- the atmosphere shots in the bar of all the punters is one of my favourite movie moments. - When Sam describes finding God at the smorgasboard and then later when Tilly tries to have his own spirtual experience at a smorgasboard. - The sales scene near the beginning of the film where we learn about the industry - the growing feud between the two main protagonists - Tilly appearing before the commission - the diner lunches that Tilly's team have when they keep going on about TV (Bonanza and other shows).I think this is Barry Levinson's best work.

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!

I just plain didn't like this movie. I didn't think any of the jokes were funny and it was boring. Who wants to watch a movie about TIN salesmen? I don't think Richard Dreyfuss or Danny DeVito are that funny. Plus, it was weird when Danny DeVito's wife had an affair with Richard Dreyfuss. I can't imagine Richard Dreyfuss having a romance in ANY movie. I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me on this one, but I thought this was an awful movie. Bad comedies are the worst kinds of movies, the kind no one wants to watch. This is one of them. People who watch this movie are wasting their time. No doubt Richard Dreyfuss is a good actor, as we have seen from his Oscar for "The Goodbye Girl". I also enjoyed him in "Jaws". I just don't think comedy or romance is his vocation. As for Danny DeVito: he plays the same role each time and is good at those kinds of roles, but he's missing humor.

I love this movie. It's one of my all time favorites. Levinson's use of music and arrested adolescent imagery (cars, diners, women, cars and more cars) is subtle and hilarious. The film looks gorgeous and has a sadness that hangs over it as we can literally see change surrounding these men who refuse to be men. The home improvement commission, the new car that is the Beetle, actually loving a woman... all of this is new and scary to Dreyfuss and Devito. Devito especially is funny in how obstinate he is in ignoring the change around him.DeVito's buddy who I think is played by the old comic Jackie Gayle is particularly funny. "I can go for some Won Ton soup..."It's a wonderful movie. And the specifics are laugh out loud funny. This and Diner are the best of Levinson's Baltimore movies.