CADILLAC MAN

Car salesman extraordinaire, Joey O’Brien, has got real problems. Everybody wants something from him. Ex-wife Tina wants his alimony money for her and their teenage daughter. His boss, concerned about Joey’s sales slump, wants Joey to bring in all his “customers” for the dealership’s big, one-day sale. Finally, he sets a 48 hour ultimatum for Joey to make 17 new car sales, or lose his job.

Things only get worse when Joey approaches his best customer, mob boss Tony, who gives him a deadline to repay a $20,000 loan “or else.” If all this wasn’t enough, the philandering Cadillac salesman is juggling three women at once. When he womanizes the wrong woman, her angry husband comes crashing through the showroom window, gun in hand. Suspecting that Joey, or another salesmen, is sleeping with his wife, he takes the entire dealership hostage. Needing the sales pitch of his life, Joey has to do his best fast-talking ever.

Since “pressure cooker” situations for most people would pale in comparison to Joey’s, one would think that the film would provide good escapism from an entertainment point of view. Alas, the film fails, because it does not exercise a believable reality. That is, Joey’s “pressure cooker” situation is resolved through ridiculous circumstances and absurd coincidences. Also, the film’s last forty minutes are tediously drawn out and boring as the angry husband begins the arduous task of determining who the guilty party is.

The film’s one highlight is Joey’s character transformation (surprisingly, he doesn’t turn out to be the adulterer), from a selfish, snide egotist to a sincere, sensitive and compassionate human being. Overall, though, the recommendation goes against the film due to its adultery, obscenity and violence.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please direct your comments to:

Arthur Krim, Chairman

Orion Pictures Corporation

711 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10019

(212) 758-5100