Load of rubbish!!

How sad is this?

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

I have watched this movie several times, and I am always entertained. Danny Devito and Richard Dreyfuss are both very good in their roles, and they manage to be both funny and believable at the same time. Those of us that were around in the early sixties can really appreciate the recreation of that time. The costumes, hairdos and and general look of Baltimore are dead on and transported me right back to that era. All of the supporting players who play the other salesmen are really entertaining, The scene where all of them are sitting around breakfast discussing "Ponderosa" made me laugh out loud and remember watching "Ponderosa" myself. I really recommend this to anyone who remembers that time or who wishes to see what the average person was thinking about before the sixties became the decade of sex , drugs and rock and roll.

A chance car prang by the two main protagonists leads to a drawn out snoozathon which seems to last way longer than its 110 minutes.Despite fine performances from both Devito and Dreyfuss, and the very occasional flash of laugh out loud humour in the script, serious flaws make this almost unwatchable.Firstly the characters' unbelievable reactions to events. Are we really to believe Devito is so unphased by a man stealing his wife? And are we to believe the wife Dreyfuss stole is really going to forget everything and marry him so easily, after she discovers he has lied and deceived his way into her pants simply to annoy a man who reversed into his car? And secondly, the two men's occupation hardly elicits shudders of excitement in the audience. At one point Dreyfuss says, to one of the undercover agents looking for corruption in his trade, something along the lines of: "we only sell aluminium siding. Why are you so interested?". He may as well be addressing the audience directly.Unbelievable, soporific nonsense, that cannot be saved by a fine cast and a few good jokes.

A bit of weird film when I think about it, just about two guys having a bit of a fight but not actually doing much except seeing each other. But this is quite an interesting comedy like film. Basically Richard Dreyfuss as Bill 'BB' Babowsky and Danny DeVito as Ernest Tilley accidentally crash into each others cars. At first they both take it really seriously a say to each other that they are going to pay, literally and in the fight sense. After a little while I think they kind of forget what happened and only keep seeing each other to talk. And that's pretty much it. But besides just a tiny bit of a pointless plot it is a good film. Good!