''Cadillac Man'' is a 1990 American

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Roger Donaldson Roger Lindsey Donaldson (born 15 November 1945) is an Australian-born New Zealand film director, producer and writer whose films include the 1981 relationship drama '' Smash Palace'', and a run of titles shot in the United States, including ...

, starring

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

and

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...

. The plot of the film centers on car salesman Joey O'Brien (Williams) whose life is consumed by turmoil, which all comes to a head when his dealership is taken hostage by Larry (Robbins), a crazed motorcyclist. The film received mixed reviews from critics but performed above its production budget at the box office, grossing $27.6 million against its $15 million budget.

Plot

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

car salesman Joey O'Brien must deal with the ever-increasing pressures in his life: he has an ex-wife demanding

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial sup ...

, a daughter who is missing, a married

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

and a single mistress who are both desperately in love with him, and a two-day deadline to either sell twelve cars or lose his job. In addition, he has an outstanding loan to a

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

which he must either quickly repay, or lose his life. On the day of the big dealership car sale (and the final day of O'Brien's deadline), the car dealership is taken

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...

by Larry, an

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

-toting motorcyclist who believes his wife is cheating on him. Joey manages to talk Larry out of doing any harm by claiming he is the one sleeping with Larry's wife. As police surround the dealership, Joey and Larry begin to bond, and Joey convinces Larry to give himself up. Without realizing Larry's gun is not loaded, the police wound him after most of the hostages have already been released. Joey promises to remain with him while he recovers, and confesses that he'd never actually slept with Larry's wife. The crisis solves all of Joey's problems: his mistresses learn of each other and dump him, his daughter returns, his job is secure, the Mafia don (whose son was among the hostages) forgives his debt, and he begins to reconcile with his ex-wife.

Cast

as Joey O'Brien *

as Larry *

Pamela Reed Pamela Reed (born April 2, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic police partner in the 1990 movie ''Kindergarten Cop'' and as the matriarch Gail Green in ''Jericho''. She appeared as Marlene ...

as Tina *

Annabella Sciorra Annabella Gloria Philomena Sciorra ( , ; born March 29, 1960) is an American actress. She came to prominence with her film debut in '' True Love'' (1989), earning an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Female Lead. Subsequent projects include ...

as Donna, Larry's Wife *

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom '' The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and prod ...

as Joy Munchack, Joey's Married Mistress *

Zack Norman Zack Norman (born ''Howard Jerrold Zuker''; May 27, 1940) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, comedian, musician, film financier, painter, art collector and real estate developer. Born in Boston and raised in nearby Revere, at the ...

as Harry Munchack * Lori Petty as Lila, Joey's Single Mistress *

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American television and film actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He retu ...

as Jack "Little Jack" Turgeon * Bill Nelson as Jack "Big Jack" Turgeon * Eddie Jones as Benny * Mimi Cecchini as Ma *

Tristine Skyler Tristine Skyler (born July 27, 1971) is an American writer, producer and actress. Born and raised in New York City, Skyler graduated cum laude from Princeton University. Early life and education Skyler was born and raised in New York City, where ...

as Lisa * Judith Hoag as Molly *

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in ''Futurama ...

as Helen, The Dim Sum Girl * Anthony Powers as Captain Mason *

Paul Herman Paul Herman (March 29, 1946 – March 29, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Randy in David O. Russell's dramedy '' Silver Linings Playbook'' (2012) and Whispers DiTullio in Martin Scorsese's crime epic ''The Irishman ...

as Tony DiPino *

Erik King Erik King (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Sergeant James Doakes on Showtime's television series ''Dexter''. He is also known for his roles as Moses Deyell on '' Oz''., and as Bobby Davidson in ''Miss ...

as Davey * Richard Panebianco as Frankie DiPino * Gary Howard Klar as Detective Walters *

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...

as Widow (uncredited) * Jack Mulcahy as S.W.A.T. Team Officer

Production

To prepare for his role in the film Williams spent time in car dealerships in Queens, New York.

Release

The film was not a box office success, although it did turn a profit.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 58% based on 12 reviews.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gives it a score of 50 out of 100 based on 21 critic reviews. Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade "B−" on scale of A to F. Critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

had mixed feelings about the film, giving it a two out of four stars, stating, "My problems with ''Cadillac Man'' were probably inspired more by false expectations than by anything on the screen, and maybe if Robbins had come crashing in through the window in the first scene I would have liked it more." Bril. of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' thought it had "the distinction of being the loudest film of 1990 and one of the worst."

References

External links

* * * * * {{Roger Donaldson 1990 films 1990s crime comedy films American business films American crime comedy films Cadillac Films directed by Roger Donaldson Films produced by Charles Roven Films set in Brooklyn Films about hostage takings Orion Pictures films Adultery in films Films about car dealerships Films scored by J. Peter Robinson 1990 comedy films American buddy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films about salespeople