Cadillac Man (1990) from Tuna


Cadillac Man (1990) is a Robin Williams comedy, which might be all some of you will need to know to make a rent or ignore decision.

 

In this one. he lives for two things -- selling cars, and chasing women. He has an ex wife and daughter, lots of debt, two girlfriends, and is suddenly in danger of losing his job if he can't sell 12 cars in one day. Girlfriend one, Fran Drescher, shows a breast at the beginning of the film while Williams is munching her box under the covers. She is married. Girlfriend number two, Lori Petty, is scene in skimpy lingerie, and with a great pokie. The film really gets going when the jealous husband of Annabella Sciorra, who is doing the owner of the car dealership, takes over the showroom with an automatic weapon and takes everyone hostage. Played by Tim Robbins, this jealous husband was much more entertaining than Williams. The rest of the film is Williams talking Robbins into giving up.

NUDITY REPORT

see the main commentary

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Full-screen format and a 1.85 widescreen anamorphic version

  • no meaningful features

Ebert's favorite scene was the same as mine. Here is his description:

"One footnote: Two scenes in the movie feature Lauren Tom as the waitress at the nearby Chinese restaurant. You've met waitresses like this before; small women who take a delight in talking back to their clients and banging them on the head with the menu when they order the wrong thing. Miss Tom steals both scenes with a performance that's funnier than anything else in the movie. Sometimes TV sitcoms are spun out of characters like hers, and I'd love to see them try one this time."

This is one of those comedies that will make you laugh if you are already in the mood to laugh, but is not enough to turn a bad mood around. . 

The Critics Vote

  • General consensus: three stars. Ebert 2/4

The People Vote ...

  • with their dollars: it grossed $27 million domestically, at a time when Williams was a hot ticket.
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C.

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