Joey (Robin Williams) is a car salesman. One shameless enough to try and sell a car to a widow on the way to the cemetery. But hey, he's got money problems, what with the ex-wife and teenage daughter, and two mistresses. The mistresses are played by Fran Drescher and Lori Petty. There's apparently a 14-year gap between Williams and Petty's actual ages, but I think they're playing it as much larger here. He's also gotta sell a bunch of cars at the dealership's big "we're moving!" sale, or he won't be moving with it.
Too bad Larry (Tim Robbins) comes crashing through the window on his motorcycle with an AK because he's tired of his wife cheating on him. At which point, it becomes a sort of comedic hostage situation? Joey claims to be the one Donna's cheating on Larry with, then also tries to help Larry make it out of this without killing anyone or being killed by the cops that quickly surround the place.
So much yelling in this movie. I was grateful for Larry's arrival through the display window, because the movie was doing an extended bit where Joey is trying to juggle three different customers, all of whom are yelling for him while he's yelling back, plus ringing phones. I was getting a headache. Of course, then Larry's yelling, punctuated with machine gun fire, which prompted a lot of screaming. So, you know, life closes a door in the face of screeching Christmas carolers, and opens a window on a road construction crew.
There's a whole, not even a subplot, about the daughter not having come home the night before, and Joey and his ex-wife arguing over the phone about it during the hostage situation. She just, shows up, at the end, I guess as a symbol of how Joey trying to be a stand-up guy and protect others has made him someone deserving of a second chance at having family. It felt pointless, though, to have them going on about it and then it resolves itself at the end.
2 comments:
I've never seen this -- I admired Robin Williams' talents but I never liked watching him -- but I would never have guessed the content. It seems wild!
It's a, restrained may not be the best word, performance from Williams. Not serious by any means, but lower-key. Probably because if Robin Williams goes full-bore, he'd obscure the "loud idiot" energy Robbins is bringing.
Williams still has the sequences where his mouth is going a mile a minute, but he's not yelling, or doing voices, because he's trying to get whoever he's talking to on his side. "Sure, I'll buy this car," "Sure I'll let him move back in." And there's an exhausted edge to it because he's doing this constantly, with everyone. Bosses, ex-wife, mistresses, co-workers, customers.
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