Delayed Reaction: Cadillac Man

What I Guessed It Was About: Robin Williams is a mustachioed Cadillac dealer who goes on an extended test drive trying to sell a car to dim-witted Tim Robbins.

How I Came Into It: Is Roger Donaldson a name I should know? For a little over a decade he was making all sorts of movies that made decent money that I hadn't seen before this project (Cocktail, No Way Out, Species, Dante's Peak), not to mention Thirteen Days and The Recruit, which I saw on my own years ago. I can't pin him down to a specific genre (He seems to favor SciFi, but it goes a lot of ways). He's just a random journeyman director, right? No one is going to describe something as being in "the Donaldson oeuvre", are they?

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) This is a familiar movie, like a mix between Phone Booth and Airheads, both of which came after this. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. This is the kind of role Robin Williams had fun playing on occasion: a well-intentioned sleaze. None of the humor is exceptional, but there's bits like the Korean restaurant only allowing to police to setup there if they ordered food, which I really enjoyed. Then there's the fact that it briefly has a topless Fran Drescher. Like, randomly, and as far as I can tell, that's the only time she ever had a nude scene. This confuses me because I can't figure out why this would be when she chose to do it. The plot doesn't require it. It's not early enough in her career that she'd think she had to do it for her career's sake nor is it late enough that it's a "I might as well do it while I still look like this" move. I've clearly spent too much time thinking about this. Maybe it just happened and nobody thought much about it.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: It's a drag until Tim Robbins shows up. The movie is laying a lot of pipe before that, which pays off well, with all the interconnectivity among the hostages. I just wish they could've gotten to it a lot sooner or kept it more interesting getting to that point.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend