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Cadillac Man (1990)
10/10
An underrated gem inside an implausible story
19 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Perhaps this film is a bit outdated now, but even the first time I saw it back in the early 1990s I thought it was pretty hysterical. The opening scene where Robin Williams (as the car salesman Joey) tries to sell a car to woman who is about to bury her husband cracks me up every time I see it. Its clever writing (or is Robin ad libbing?) and scene setting.

For whatever reason, Robin is perfectly suited as a car salesman. As another reviewer noted, there are not many times when a car salesman gets to be a hero and Robin is terrific. He exudes the "I love to sell" line despite his nutty life as a quick witted womanizing salesman. He has two girlfriends, owes money to a Mafia character, and is about to lose his job. All this gets fixed by Tim Robbins (Larry) taking hostages inside the car dealership where Joey works. But the story itself is secondary to the fun the cast seems to have with the creation of the whole movie.

The chemistry between Pamela Reed (who plays Robin's ex wife) and Robin make for some sizzlingly (if that's a word) funny interactions. Its almost as though there are little bits of truth hidden inside the lines.

Another funny moment comes when the Chinese restaurant staff who serve the SWAT team thats situated across the street from the dealership insist that the police can only use the restaurant if they're going to order food.

I've seen this movie many times and I never tire of it!
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Jobs (2013)
9/10
Inspiring
2 March 2013
Despite its flaws, the movie was, at times, inspirational. The music took you back to the 1970s and was particularly uplifting. Like most of us back in the 1970s, Apple founders were not primarily motivated by dollar signs, but by something grander. As for Kutcher's portrayal of Jobs, he did a helluva good impression- according to Apple folks who were at the screening I attended. The dialog accurately reflects whats already out there in print (re:Isaacson and Moritz books on Jobs and the history of Apple computer).

Like many docudramas I've seen, the film had trouble creating the kind of underlying drama that a fictional account could do and the movie suffered a little bit from not having much of a back story. Nonetheless...

This is a very worthwhile movie that goes beyond the character of Steve Jobs, but reflects on the struggle of a visionary leader and a team of geniuses who took no shortcuts to create something beautiful and worthwhile.
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10/10
Terrific!
30 May 2011
I loved this movie! It blends film noir with Stardust Memories, The Purple Rose of Cairo, and a bit of Annie Hall. The scenes of Paris were enough to make one fall in love. The music was superb! Having all the artists and writers show up was the ultimate name dropping contest! Their caricatures were hysterical! Casting Adrien Brody as Salvatore Dali was mind blowing, along with the surreal discussion about a rhino.

I think Owen Wilson is the best Woody Allen by far. He has a kind of naivete that seems to fit perfectly with who Woody seems to be and the combination of Owen's good looks with Woody's humor is riveting!

Of course the "nostalgia" theme and the -I really want to be somewhere else because it's too boring here- give the story a whole other layer of meaning. For we artists and writers it's one of the things that sparks our creativity, so I loved this discussion and the never ending unraveling the story provokes. While he's entertaining you, getting you to laugh hysterically about it all, you're actually getting the point he's trying to make! There is no one who is so brilliant! Enjoy!
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10/10
romantic comedy with lots of laughs
6 January 2009
I saw this movie the for the first time many years ago and definitely did not catch all the innuendos the first time. The aquarium scene, and the Doris Day (Carole Templeton)'s apartment scene are among my favorite scenes, hysterically funny-- The most fun, however, was just because I thought Rock Hudson was having trouble holding himself back from cracking up over the ridiculous lines and con job he was doing on Doris Day. I wish I could have seen the outtakes for this film. He seemed to be having such a ball!

A great fun film! Great dialog! Rock and Doris -- what a team! I laughed out loud many, many times.
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