I’ve just watched a few. Been in that mood. Car dick was a once-upon-a-time career of mine, and though I don’t miss the stress, the culture gets under your skin. I still remember it fondly.
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard isn’t awful, but its pervasive unfulfilled potential is frustrating. It assembles and develops several characters who would be hilarious in stereotypical car sales moments, then gives them essentially nothing to do. The car lot could have been anything. It had almost nothing to do with the comedy.
Suckers was a pleasant surprise, and worth a Netflix. It’s got some edginess, some of which is misplaced, but it’s also got highly accurate portrayals of what gets said behind closed doors, in training sessions and sales meetings. If you want to hear just how bad it can be—if you want to hear what works on millions of people—see this one.
I think the elder statesman of this genre is Used Cars. It’s slapstick, but it’s got just enough truth about it to resonate. I think it’s also the first movie I can remember my dad laughing at so hard he lost his breath. (That was at the heart attack scene, by the way.)
Car sales was an important establishing factor in Fargo. Some of the comedy worked because you knew dear Jerry was a car salesman.
You will own this car now when the figures are agreeable. Is that correct, Mr. Prospect?
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Add the documentary _Slasher_ to your list. Totally delves into one of the very worst of the slimy used car salesmen – a mercenary hired to get rid of cars unfit to sell. John Landis directed it, so that’s a plus, unless you’re Vic Morrow…
Slasher sounds cool. I put it in my queue. I thought I made it for tomorrow, but Shutter Island jumped ahead of it. I’ll check it out early next week.