Tin Men (1987) * * * *

Directed by:  Barry Levinson

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, Barbara Hershey, John Mahoney, Bruno Kirby, Richard Portnow, Jackie Cayle, Stanley Brock, J.T. Walsh

Barry Levinson vividly remembers the Baltimore of his youth and lovingly recreates its vitality in Diner (1982) and Tin Men, which is less about feuding aluminum siding salesmen and more about what makes them tick.   Each is under enough pressure trying to make a living pressuring suckers into buying high-priced aluminum siding.  Then BB crashes his brand new Cadillac into Ernest's Cadillac just as BB pulls his fresh off the lot, and the pressures now multiply tenfold.

Ernest and BB point the finger at each other and swear revenge.   At first, it is tit for tat stuff, with BB smashing Ernest's headlights and Ernest escalating matters by smashing out BB's windows.   BB decides to go for what he thinks is the jugular, which is wooing Ernest's wife Nora (Hershey) and sleeping with her.   This backfires when BB calls Ernest to boast and finds out Ernest can't stand her anyway.    BB is now stuck with Ernest's wife living in his apartment with him, which is something a lifelong single guy like him is hardly used to.   Ernest has mounting issues of his own, such as $4,000 owed to the IRS in back taxes and a sales slump which may cost him his job.

If BB and Ernest have anything in common, besides Nora, is that each is under the microscope of a newly formed Home Improvement Commission looking to make a name for itself by exposing the scams BB and Ernest perpetrate on unsuspecting consumers.    In one instance, BB and his partner Moe (Mahoney) trick a homeowner into thinking her home will be featured in Life magazine in an unflattering light, unless of course she purchases $4,000 worth of siding.

BB's problems worsen when he realizes he may be in love with Nora, and he would love very much for her not to find out they met under dubious circumstances.    In a way, meeting Ernest may turn out to be the best thing to happen to BB.   Levinson presents BB and Ernest fairly.   We like them both and forgive them their trespasses.    Neither is the hero or the villain, just two guys who deal with life the only way they know how.    Levinson doesn't stop there.    He allows us a peek into their world, and we are treated to scenes of rich dialogue between BB, Ernest, and their respective colleagues.   They don't just talk about aluminum siding.    One guy points out the oddities of Bonanza, ("It's about a 50 year old guy and his three 47 year old sons,"), and another marvels about how great a dancer BB is. 

Tin Men is full of life, energy, and eventually heart.   We hope everything turns out okay for them, and we also wish BB and Ernest would understand they could be friends instead of fighting over their respective Cadillac status symbols.