Tin Men, "A Touching Tale of Tit-For-Tat Andtrnsition TIN MEN Written and Directed B) Barry Levinson
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
~BsB~B~·~~ale-essr~~e~·lRE4 TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 1987 The Tech PAGE 15 _s ~a~-y,--~ -·~- - --.- -~--C r ~- ~--d~a~l- I~sl~CT~aL - -- -- rsp~-- i~pa -- · %·-r , ----- -,, I I - m A R T S ii "Tin Men, "a touching tale of tit-for-tat andtrnsition TIN MEN Written and directed b) Barry Levinson. However, i collision course is about to Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny change his life in some subtle and some Delgito, and Barbara Hershey. not so subtle ways. At the Cheri, the Janus, and BB's shiny new Cadillac makes it a sixth Somerville (Assembly Square) theaters. of a mile out of the car dealership onto the street only to be sidewinded by Tilley. By PETER DUNN Instant mutual hatred and oathes of re- venge. And so begins a joint escalation of AN ANYTHING GO WRONG? Danny car mutilation and one-upmanship that DeVito received critical acclaim draws innocent Nora into the fray. last year as a deceitful husband But although "Tin Men" could easily in "Ruthless People." Richard degenerate into gut-wrenching comedy by Dreyfuss won acclaim for his performance playing for laughs as BB and Tilley go at as coat hanger magnate in "Down and Out each other, writer and director Barry Le- in Beverly Hills." Barbara Hershey was vinson instead opts for the type of comedy striking as the object of Michael Caine's that draws that little chuckle from inside. desire in Woody Allen's multiOscar win- This is the kind of comedy that leaves a ner, "Hannah and Her Sisters." All the warm glow inside the viewer as he leaves principals in Barry Levinson's new film, the theater, a knowledge that the human "Tin Men," are on a roll. Not much can condition is a humorously uplifting one. go wrong. Levinson's "Tin Men," like his earlier Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito "Diner," concerns itself less with plot and are the tin men of the title - aluminum more with telling the tale of male bonding. siding salesmen, the conmen of Baltimore Where "Diner" focused on the young of 1963 - Bill "BB" Babowsky and Er- friends who gathered at the diner to talk nest Tilley respectively. "Tin Men" is a of women and exploits, "Tin Men" focus- soft-spoken and subtle comedy of their es on the aluminum siding conmen and confrontation, evolution, and transition. their trials, tribulations, and scams, using The film opens on extreme closeups of a BB's and Tilley's feud as the thin thread beautiful, shiny, new car as the credits that links everything together. So instead flash past in clhssy art deco lettering. of a linear storyline depicting the mutual Richard Dreyfuss, Barbara Hershey, and Danny DeVito in "Tin Men." Then, as the audience begins to recognize one-upmanship of the two rivals, "Tin The final theme of "Tin Men" is one of were shown through dark and grayish col- images of car parts repeating themselves, Men" is not averse to wandering off on transition. On the one hand the tin men's ors, "Tin Men" starts with bright blues we realize that we are subjectively ogling a some tangent in the everyday life of a tin rivalry connotes an unswerving denial of and yellows and slowly drifts to darker brand new Cadillac Coupe de Ville along man. surrender but on the other hand, they are shades as the film progresses. with BB. A large Caddy with its distinctive Woody Allen's films come first to mind forced to make changes in their lives. How Also, Levinson's preoccupation with lines and snazzy fins is the ultimate status when viewing "Tin Men." The comedy and the two deal with and adapt to the chang- faces - often filming a conversation in symbol for tin men and BB knows he de- style are quite similar. But Levinson's ing rules of life is just as important in "Tin loose closeups and tight medium shots- I serves one. "Diner" and "Tin Men" are to Allen films Men" as their refusal to cede to one an- adds a certain subtle intensity to what his For Tilley, the day begins as any other as Gene Kelly is to Fred Astaire. While Al- other. characters say. The fact that his characters -nagging from his pestering wife, Nora len films are more often geared at the so- This gradual transition is most notice- stutter, repeat themselves, and fail to find (Barbara Hershey), and a stiff neck that phisticated intelligencia, Levinson's com- ably exernmplified with Levinson's masterful the proper words, as opposed to the most- just won't loosen up. As he drives to work edies touch a chord in the heart of the use of color to suggest mood. Where the ly well articulated and well argued lan- in his big yellow Caddy, all seems natural. working class man. disillusionment and moodiness of "Diner" guage of an Allen film, adds a middle-class believability to the script. Dreyfuss and DeVito are perfectly cast "6Working, 99 a musical written by an assembly line as the two tin men. For once DeVito seems (Continuedfrom page 14) Robert Young's gas meter reader, sneak- vacuum cleaners. more to fit in as just another of the many the Livelong Day" and "I Hear America ing up behind the housewife (Carol Smith The choreography and set were unin- conmen instead of being an short, frus- Singing," in a tone reminiscent of people '89) and screaming "Gas man!" was a spired. Sarah Abrams chose one dance trated oddball. And Dreyfuss is comfort- singing the US national anthem. good laugh. Rina Cerulli '86 gave a spark- step which the actors employed repetitively able and convincing as a graying but still Moving along into the vignette se- ling performance as the boisterous Italian throughout the production. It was a seductive bachelor. But the gem of "Tin quences, individual performances saved waitress, Delores Dante. Delores saw wai- backup singer-type movement, where the Men" is Barbara Hershey: after seeing her the show from disaster. The portrayal of tressing as an art form -- how she placed feet awkwardly cross over one another, but in "Hannah" where the film begins appro- the paperboy by Athena P. Tai '90, hap- a plate, how she never expected a tip for it was difficult for the actors to synchro- priately enough with the sentence "God, pily one of the first vignettes, woke the au- her performance. As Cerulli belted out her nize the step with the music. The set was a she's beautiful.. .," the transformation to dience up with her energetic "Neat to be a song, she ignored her whining customers. badly painted wall simulating cinderblock simple, bespectacled, Maryland accented Newsboy." She marched around the stage Creating trucks riding through the night (illustrating the work-as-a-jail-cell theme). housewife is incredible.-Perhaps its an ear- like a toy soldier throwing newspapers was cleverly accomplished by attaching Friedhoff returned at the show's close as ly prediction of an Oscar nomination. through every window she could. This two flashlights on the sides of a box. Rid- a steelworker who hoped he would have Levinson's "Tin Men" is a comedy to be song illustrated the work-is-fun theme. ing atop his box, trucker Richard Buelles- some accomplishment to present to his sure, but no Monty Python or "Police Michael Friedhoff '90 deftly portrayed a bach '90, in a rich, torchy voice, sang son, even if it was a steel girder on top of Academy V" here. Levinson has blended Mexican migrant worker who told a sad, "Brother Trucker." a building. His song, "Fathers and Sons," charm with simple laughs at the expense of eloquent story about how hard his moth- We necessarily plodded through work- was lovely. He was then joined by the the everyday man to show us that we can er's life had been, how she had never given as-drudgery themes with Deb Kreuze '90 company in "Something to Point to," a chuckle at ourselves and don't need buf- up hoping for something better for her as an editor and Smith as a housewife. Al- song about taking pride in your work, foonery to entertain us. But more than family. While he talked, Jennifer Soko- though the housewife complained in her which they sang with resounding energy. simple, lingering, warm laughs, Levinson lowski '90 softly sang "'Un Mejor Dia Ven- song that housewifing is underrated and Unfortunately "Working" will not be a has combined his comedy with a believable dra." If "Working" had consisted of only quite fulfilling, Smith's unspirited, defen- show MTG can point to. The fine singing tale of everyday life to give an uplifting pieces such as this, it would have better sive tone did not convince. Or maybe it and acting talents of the Guild could have story of human perseverance. conveyed Terkel's intent. was the backup singers pushing imaginary been better employed. The Tech proudly presents... The Tech Performing Arts Series A service for the entire MIT community from The Tech, in conjunction with the MIT Technology Community Association. ......,...,............ ........... ,...... ... .. .... .. .. .. ... ... .... ..... .... Special reduced-price tickets now available for the following events: Alvin Alley Guarneri String Quartet I Steve Reich and Musicians l American Dance Theater X Continuing to blend the talents of its four Recognized internationally as one of the ;ne of America's foremost contemporary founding members - Arnold Steinhardt, world's foremost living contemporary n odance companies, the Alvin Ailey i violin; John Dalley, violin; Michael Tree, composers, innovative performer Steve A merican Dance Theater-continues to viola; and David Soyer, cello - the Reich and his ensemble of musicians will expand and change the definition of modern critically acclaimed Guarneri String offer a program of works by Mr.